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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904033">A Thousand Faces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramblingandpie/pseuds/Ramblingandpie'>Ramblingandpie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect: Andromeda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Babies, Botany, Established Relationship, Evolution, F/F, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Kett origin theories, Leviathans, Medical Examination, Mind Control, Post-Canon, The whole crew makes appearances, couples have arguments but talk things out, filling plot holes, lots of talking about anatomy in a medical sense, minor original characters, probably making new plot holes, throwing shade at the Nexus for lack of universal design</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:00:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,907</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904033</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramblingandpie/pseuds/Ramblingandpie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kesh has the Pathfinder and her crew investigate some mysteries on the Nexus. Along the way, they encounter some mysteries from the Milky Way that came along for the ride. They learn some things about Milky Way history, Andromeda history, and some things they never realized they had in common.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cora Harper/Male Ryder | Scott, Vetra Nyx/Female Ryder | Sara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Mass Effect Big Bang 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionBloomfield/gifts">OrionBloomfield</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Ryder walked through the Nexus, with Vetra and Drack trailing closely behind. It was unusual for Kesh to send an e-mail marked urgent, so they wasted no time.</p><p>The door to Kesh’s office was open, so they walked right in.</p><p>“Thanks for coming, Ryder,” Kesh said in her matter-of-fact tone. “Drack, Vetra. Always good to see you.”</p><p>“Any time,” Vetra said.</p><p>“What d'ya need, kid?” Drack asked.</p><p>Kesh sighed. “Right to the point, as always. We know the Kett are dealt with for now. Apex can handle the little groups we run into, and there are no signs of any large organized forces. I thought it was a good time to deal with a problem we've had on the Nexus.” She pulled up a holographic schematic. “You can see that this section here received a lot of damage from the Scourge. It sheared right through the water tank, and the whole supply was spaced. Automated systems have since put a mass effect field in place and we’ve been able to repressurize the area.” She paused and expanded the schematic to show that wing in more detail. “For the past few weeks, we’ve been increasing the temperature to bring it to habitable levels. It’s still pretty cold, will be for another month or so, but people can get around with regular equipment at least.</p><p>“We have a hospital set up in that area that we haven’t been able to use, as well as a few hundred housing units. I wanted to check it out, see what repairs were needed, and start to use the facilities. Infirmaries and med bays have gotten us through to now, but we have enough of a population established that we need a real medical center. And we’ll need it to really grow the population. Thousands of cryo’d embryos and the resources to grow them are stored in that hospital.”</p><p>“That should be pretty straightforward,” Ryder said. “So. Why do you need us?”</p><p>Kesh shifted her weight and waved the schematic away. “Two things. First, even though the water was spaced, the grav system is still showing a massive amount of weight in the tank. I checked logs and the tank was overweight when we left the Milky Way. Something’s in there.”</p><p>Vetra smiled. “A great way to smuggle something in, really. As long as the water supply is working, no-one's going to ask questions.”</p><p>Kesh nodded at her. “Exactly. And apart from the krill, things are working fine. They filter out easily enough for you squishy species that can’t handle extra protein in your water.”</p><p>Drack chuckled, then asked, “So what's the second problem?”</p><p>Kesh sighed. “I sent a dozen workers, a mix of custodians and engineers, to check the status a week ago, and they haven't come back. My theory is that whoever smuggled whatever's in that water tank is guarding it.”</p><p>“So you expect resistance,” Ryder said. “Well, that's something we're used to.”</p><p>“And I'd like to keep this secret, of course. Things are going smoothly right now. I don't want people to think there's another insurrection brewing. Tann would never let me hear the end of it.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Since Vetra and Drack were most familiar with the Nexus in general, they were selected for the squad.</p><p>“Lexi,” Ryder said, “I want you on standby in case we have to do a med evac of Kesh's crew.”</p><p>“On it,” she said. “I'll be in my lab. A full week is a long time, Ryder.”</p><p>Ryder waved and the map of the hospital wing popped up on her Omni-tool. “There were plenty of supplies they could have used. The map showed storage with at least a few weeks’ worth of MREs. Even with the tank spaced, the wing is tied in with main Nexus plumbing. They would still be able to get water from a tap.”</p><p>Ryder waved the map away. “Cora, Liam, you're on standby for evac duty” she instructed. She took a look over her shotgun and holstered it.. “Peebee, Jaal, I'll let you know if we need anything.”</p><p>“Okay,” Peebee said, “but what if you find something really cool? I'm gonna want to see it.”</p><p>Drack laughed. “We'll bring ya samples, kid. No worries.”</p><p>“Ready?”</p><p>“Ready,” the crew chorused. By this point, they'd been working as a well-oiled machine for over a year.</p><p>Kallo chimed in, “We're all docked and ready to go.”</p><p>They had docked with a small re-supply docking port that was part of the affected area to avoid tromping through the Nexus fully armed. They would bypass settled areas completely.</p><p>Ryder whispered on her private channel, “SAM, stay alert. Not sure what we're going to run into.”</p><p>“Always, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Let's roll,” Ryder said, leading Vetra and Drack out the airlock.</p><p>She scanned the area. Nothing unusual. It was bright enough to see their surroundings even though only the emergency lighting was on.</p><p>The bay and corridor were sparse, with hardly any furniture and no signs of life. It reminded Ryder of when they first docked with the Nexus, and also of some of the old horror movies Liam loved to watch.</p><p>They progressed for several minutes in silence. Ryder checked her scanner at every intersection, but nothing notable presented itself.</p><p>“Anything?” Vetra asked after the fifth or sixth scan.</p><p>Ryder shook her head. “That's what's unusual.”</p><p>Drack shrugged. “We've gone through a few ambush points so far with nothing. That's what's weird. I was expecting a fight by now.”</p><p>Vetra shrugged. “Maybe you scared them off.”</p><p>Drack laughed, but fell silent as Ryder turned a corner and raised her hand. He and Vetra readied their guns and approached the blind turn.</p><p>Ryder lowered her gun and began moving forward slowly. She opened her scanner. “SAM, vitals?”</p><p>SAM's response echoed through the shared channel on their com links. “Negative, Pathfinder. The individual is deceased.”</p><p>Drack and Vetra lowered their guns and turned the corner. Ryder was scanning the body of an asari dressed in plain coveralls, slumped over from sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall.</p><p>“Cause of death?”</p><p>“Unable to determine with complete certainty. Probable dehydration or starvation. Sending scans to Lexi for correlation.”</p><p>The asari looked as though she were simply asleep. Her skin had taken a purplish corpse-like hue, but she seemed relaxed and unconcerned.</p><p>SAM reported that he was unable to identify any signs of struggle or defensive wounds.</p><p>“Lexi, are you getting this?”</p><p>“Loud and clear, Ryder. Send me as many scans as you can. We'll retrieve the body once we know what we're dealing with.”</p><p>Ryder turned to her companions. “Anything else that you two notice being weird?”</p><p>Vetra pointed down the hall. “We're right around the corner from a supply closet, if I have the map right. Which I do.”</p><p>Drack harumphed. “Awfully weird to starve to death 50 feet from a supply of rations. Unless it's been ransacked.”</p><p>“Next stop, then,” Ryder announced.</p><p>The supply closet was fully stocked with MREs, bottled water, and other emergency supplies on one side, with cleaning supplies and extra linens on the other. It looked like nothing had been touched. Ryder opened one of the boxes and saw the familiar silver packages. She grimaced. She’d had a few assignments that required MREs, and while she wouldn’t eat them by choice, they were certainly preferable to starving to death.</p><p>“Well,” Vetra said, after quickly checking the inventory list, “nothing to see here. All the cases are accounted for and still sealed. Except that one.” She pointed to the box Ryder had left on the floor.</p><p>Ryder frowned. “Everyone on high alert. Something weird is going on.”</p><p>Vetra shook her head. “Nope. I just checked. Everything's here. Unless you want to start opening all the boxes.”</p><p>Drack looked at Vetra and raised a brow ridge. “I think she means the dead body.”</p><p>Vetra paused for a moment. “Right. That.”</p><p>Ryder squinted and peered at Vetra. “You feeling ok? That's not like you.”</p><p>“What are you talking about? I feel perfectly fine. We checked the inventory. Let's roll.”</p><p>Vetra confidently strode out of the supply room and turned left.</p><p>Ryder looked at Drack, who shrugged back in response. “Vetra?” She said, as gently as she could. “We're going the other way.”</p><p>SAM spoke so that only Ryder could hear him. “Through Vetra's bio monitor, I detect a decrease in cognitive function.”</p><p>Ryder subvocalized back. “Any idea what's causing it?”</p><p>“Negative at this time. I would, however, suspect it is temporary. There seem to be no physiological changes, only some chemical and electrical changes.”</p><p>“Keep an eye on it?”</p><p>“Affirmative, Pathfinder.”</p><p>Three more turns towards the water tank, and they found a group of humans and turians similarly situated to the previous corpse. Ryder began scanning them.</p><p>Drack began to laugh.</p><p>Ryder stopped scanning. “What's so funny?”</p><p>“They look like they had too much Ryncol,” he said.</p><p>“SAM?” Ryder asked. “Any info?”</p><p>“These are similar to the previous. Starvation for the turian subjects, and dehydration for the humans.”</p><p>“I was more talking about that.” She turned her scanner towards Drack, who was nudging one of the corpses with his toes and humming a tune. “Hey! Knock it off,” Ryder shouted in his direction.</p><p>SAM spoke privately with Ryder. “It appears that his cognition is also affected. The redundant nervous system is providing some…” SAM seemed to struggle for a word, and settled on “feedback loop.”</p><p>“Lexi?” Ryder asked.</p><p>Static.</p><p>“Of course. Horror movie. Got it. Vetra, how are you holding up?”</p><p>“I'm going to take a nap,” Vetra said, matter-of-factly. “Right here looks comfy.” She sat on the floor with her back against the wall.</p><p>“SAM, please tell me that something with how you work in my head makes me immune to this?”</p><p>“That does seem to be the case, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Oh, good. I was starting to think I was hallucinating.”</p><p>Drack was head butting the wall.</p><p>“I am able to pick up readings from their bio monitors of a signal that seems to be affecting their neurological function. If you moved Drack further from Vetra, I could triangulate the source.”</p><p>Ryder considered. If she was immune to whatever was messing with her squadmates, then dealing with it solo was her best course of action. Now to get Drack moving.</p><p>Fortunately, she had plenty of experience with corralling drunken humans, and figured that similar tactics might work with Drack.</p><p>“Drack!” She shouted to get his attention, and slapped his shoulder for good measure. “Race ya!”</p><p>She took off running away from Vetra. It didn't feel great to leave her behind, but she reminded herself that it was for the best. The sooner she could disrupt the signal, the sooner Vetra would get back to normal. She didn't have to wonder long if her plan for Drack was working when she heard the thundering clomp-clomp-clomp coming up from behind, followed by uproarious laughter.</p><p>“Ryder, you fool!” he shouted as he passed her. “I am the fastest Krogan that ever ran!”</p><p>She stopped when SAM indicated that she was far enough for his calculations.</p><p>“You win, Drack! You win.” She leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees, taking a deep breath. “Have mercy.”</p><p>“Say it, Ryder. Say I'm the fastest.”</p><p>“You are.” She stood back up and made a flourishing gesture. “You, Nakmor Drack, are the fastest Krogan that I ever saw charge.”</p><p>He held his fists up in the air.</p><p>SAM whispered, “I've marked your map with the source of the signal.”</p><p>“Why don't you stay here, Drack. I have to, um. Go do a thing. Take care of something.”</p><p>He laughed. “You humans and your puny bladders.”</p><p>“Yes. Yes, we do have puny bladders. Will you wait here while I find a bathroom?”</p><p>“Say it, Ryder. Say I am the best at waiting.”</p><p>“You are, Drack. You are, in fact, the best at waiting.”</p><p>She slipped away as he celebrated by himself in the hallway. Once she was confident he wasn’t following her, she stopped. She leaned against the wall, took several deep breaths, and bounced up and down a few times on her toes. Then, she put her pistol away and took out the shotgun.</p><p>“SAM? They'll be ok, right?”</p><p>“Statistically, they are likely to recover.”</p><p>“That's… reassuring, I guess. But. Do you think the ones who died, just… lay down for a nap, like Vetra did?”</p><p>“That is likely.” SAM paused. “You might also like to know that their pain perception is diminished. Those who died likely did not suffer.”</p><p>“Small mercies.”</p><p>It seemed to take ages to work down the hallways to the room SAM had indicated on her map. She stopped outside the room and took several deep breaths. She placed a turret dead center in the hall facing the door. There were no sounds from inside the room. All she could hear was her own breathing and the blood pounding in her ears.</p><p>She held her breath as she triggered the door.</p><p>Nothing happened.</p><p>She waited for a few moments.</p><p>Still nothing.</p><p>She peered around the opening.</p><p>In the center of the otherwise empty room was an orange sphere, about two feet in diameter, perfectly smooth.</p><p>She blinked several times. She realized that she hadn’t felt deja vu since before SAM, but she was feeling it now.</p><p>“Are you sure I'm not hallucinating?” she asked.</p><p>“Positive. You show no unusual optical signals. Scans might reveal something.”</p><p>“On it.” She holstered the shotgun and drew up her scanner.</p><p>“Interesting,” SAM said.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“It's organic in nature,” SAM reported.</p><p>“It’s alive?”</p><p>“Negative. The bulk of the material is comparable to a resin or fingernails. There is, however, a rudimentary ganglion of neural tissue, and is transmitting a repeating wave pattern that interferes with brain signals. The electrostatic field it is generating is likely what is interfering with the communications system.”</p><p>“Ok. Neural system. Not a brain, thought?</p><p>“No. It is taking no input, nor does it seem to be processing anything. It seems to be merely sending a signal.”</p><p>“What happens if I smash it?”</p><p>“It will likely cease to function.”</p><p>“Great.” Ryder stopped her scanner and took out her trusty Krogan hammer. She planted her feet firmly on the ground, swung the hammer in an arc over her head, and felt a satisfying crash as the orb split into hundreds of small pieces.</p><p>Her com was immediately inundated with chatter.</p><p>“-read? Do you read?” came Liam's voice, shortly followed by Vetra's.</p><p>“What the hell. What the hell. Drack? Ryder? Where are you and why am I surrounded by corpses?”</p><p>“I read you guys!” Ryder quickly interjected. “Everyone. Mind control device. Thing. Also jamming coms. Very weird. Vetra and Drack spaced out. I smashed it and it stopped.”</p><p>“Oooooh bring back the pieces?” PeeBee asked excitedly.</p><p>“I'll bring a few for study,” Ryder said. She gathered some of the small fragments and put them in one of her pouches.</p><p>“Now. I'm looping back to pick up Vetra and Drack, and we'll see what's in the water tank. Hold off on evac until we're done. We haven't found all of the original team, but… it doesn't look likely that anyone made it.”</p><p>She did one last look around the room for anything unusual, but apart from the smashed fragments of the orb, nothing was out of place.</p><p>When she reached Vetra, the turian was back to her senses and doing a search of the area. “Find anything?”</p><p>Vetra shook her head. “Last thing I remember is getting off the Tempest,” she said. “And then coming here.”</p><p>“Huh. So it seems to affect memory, as well,” Ryder mused aloud.</p><p>“Yeah. Headache, too. Not a fan. Let's try to avoid that in the future.”</p><p>“Are you ok to continue?” Ryder asked. Vetra nodded.</p><p>Ryder continued. “Now we know what to look out for. SAM, keep an eye on Vetra's biometrics. Let me know if she starts to go spacey again.”</p><p>“Understood, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Let's go pick up Drack.”</p><p>Unfortunately, Drack, despite his braggadocio about his waiting skills, was not where she had left him.</p><p>“Drack, ping me your location.”</p><p>“I'm in a supply closet,” he replied. Ryder looked at the map on her omnitool and saw the ping. He wasn't far away.</p><p>They found him sitting on the floor with an open crate of MREs. He was surrounded by empty packages and sauce was smeared on his left cheek.</p><p>Vetra sighed. “You are going to have so many regrets later.”</p><p>He shrugged. “Wouldn't be the first time.”</p><p>Ryder shook her head. “Well, now that the weird alien mind-control thing is taken care of… to the water tank?”</p><p>“Let's roll,” Vetra replied.</p><p>“Wait a sec,” Ryder said. “There were two krogan on Kesh's team. Hey, Drack, how long can a krogan go without food or water?”</p><p>He shrugged. “Two weeks, give or take. But if they’re not thinking straight, they’d probably kill each other over whatever loot they found.” He paused. “Or if they just got bored.”</p><p>They proceeded cautiously, but on a direct route to the water tank didn't run into any other of the workers.</p><p>There were several warning signs on the door that it was a secure site. Ryder took a last peek at the map. The water tanks themselves were massive, about 300 meters long and 100 in depth and height. The best approach was through these maintenance doors, which led them through an airlock to a catwalk area near the ceiling of the tank.</p><p>“SAM? infiltrator mode,” Ryder instructed. A few moments later, she was nearly invisible. Vetra and Drack posted themselves on each side of the door.</p><p>Ryder initiated the opening sequence Kesh had provided. The door opened slowly, and no alarms blared. Although both areas had air, a gentle breeze blew past her and into the room. It took a few moments for the pressures to completely equalize. She assessed the room before stepping in. Then, she put in the override code that would allow both doors to open. There was a sucking sound as the door opened. The air pressures equalized.</p><p>The gash in the tank was narrow, only about a meter wide, and ran almost from the floor to the ceiling. She could see the stars through the bluish haze of the mass effect field that covered the outside of the gash. In a way, it was beautiful.</p><p>She looked down to the floor of the tank, and immediately switched from her sidearm to her scanner.</p><p>“SAM?”</p><p>“I need to get closer for a proper scan.”</p><p>The limp creature in the bottom of the tank was unlike anything Ryder had ever seen. It was massive, covering a quarter of the tank floor, and shaped vaguely like a squid.</p><p>The walls of the tank were stained in dark streaks leading from the creature's body to the gash in the wall. Blood or some other bodily fluid. Most likely from being depressurized or, if the creature was hit directly by the Scourge, from the wound. Not an easy way to go.</p><p>“Come on in, guys. Whatever's here looks pretty dead.”</p><p>Vetra and Drack followed in as Ryder discharged her invisibility cloak.</p><p>Vetra whistled. “Well. I was expecting a lot of things, but this was definitely not on the list.”</p><p>Ryder slid down the ladder that ran down the wall of the tank. “SAM, you're recording all of this, right?”</p><p>“Affirmative, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>She re-activated her scanner. Now that she was closer, the creature was towering even in its stillness. She couldn’t get its entire body on one scan, even from the other end of the tank.</p><p>“Lexi, you seeing this?”</p><p>“I am, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Any ideas?”</p><p>“None. Initial scans are unlike anything I'm familiar with. Fascinating that after so long here in Heleus, we discover what looks like a new species as a stow away from the Milky Way.”</p><p>“Should I collect samples?”</p><p>Lexi paused. “No. Let's leave it intact. We'll want to bring in a team for study. I have some researchers in mind who would be perfect.”</p><p>“Liam, Cora? We’re clear for you to come in and retrieve the bodies. I’ve marked your maps. Vetra, Drack, and I will search for the missing krogan. I suspect Kesh will want to keep this whole thing under wraps until we determine what’s going on with the giant squid thing, so it will be a while before she’s able to send in a recovery crew.”</p><p>“On it,” Liam reported.</p><p>“Can I come see the thing?” Peebee asked.</p><p>“Not yet. Ask Lexi nicely and she might let you on the research team.”</p><p>The rest of the search proceeded as smoothly as it could. None of Kesh’s original team had survived, but they were able to find the bodies for recovery. Sometimes, that was the best they could do.</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>***</p><p>Back aboard the Tempest and with her armor and weapons secured in her locker, Ryder checked in with the crew as she usually did after missions.</p><p>She wanted to check on Vetra first. They kept their relationship as much to the side as possible during missions, but Vetra had clearly been shaken by the events of the day.</p><p>Ryder first checked the storage room that Vetra had made into her makeshift headquarters. She occasionally wondered what contraband was stored away in there, but never asked.</p><p>The door was closed, which made her fairly sure that Vetra was thinking something over within. She knocked, the door opened, and as soon as she walked in she was swept up in an embrace..</p><p>“Hey, hun. How are you holding up?”</p><p>“Thanks for coming by, Ryder.”</p><p>Ryder gave Vetra a tight squeeze.</p><p>They stood like that for a few moments before Vetra took a deep breath and continued.</p><p>“So. Um. Thanks. I needed that.”</p><p>Ryder sat on one of the crates and patted the spot next to her. Vetra sat and draped an arm over Ryder's shoulders.</p><p>“You know how much I don't like being out of control.” Ryder nodded. “Let's just say that wasn't my favorite mission.”</p><p>“We got samples for Lexi to study. She'll figure out a way for it to not happen again. And SAM knows what to keep an eye out for, so we'll know about it. I'll make sure to bring a hammer.”</p><p>Vetra gently jabbed her in the arm. “That's my Ryder. Have a problem? Smash it with an enormous hammer.”</p><p>They laughed. It wasn't deep, but it was something.</p><p>“Hey. I'll stop smashing things when it stops solving my problems.”</p><p>Now it was Vetra's turn to pull Ryder in for a squeeze, and a kiss to the top of her head.</p><p>They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Vetra running her fingers over Ryder's back in slow, lazy circles.</p><p>“Ok. You should go. I'm fine. Promise. And I know you have to check in with everyone.”</p><p>Ryder took her leave after a few more pleasantries and another quick kiss.</p><p>Next she stopped in to check with Kallo and Suvi, and confirmed that everything was fine with the ship. “It’s creepy, though, innit, a stone being able to affect someone’s free will,” Suvi said, turning a dull orange shard over in her hand. “Seems like it should be in a ghost story.”</p><p>“Definitely,” Ryder agreed.</p><p>“It’s not the strangest thing we’ve encountered,” Kallo said. “But it’s up there.”</p><p>“And SAM said this was organic? More like a resin or keratin?”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “It looks like it came from that giant squid thing in the water tank.”</p><p>“Kind of big for a lone stowaway, don’t you think, Kallo?” Suvi asked.</p><p>Kallo nodded. “It has enough mass that it would need to be accounted for in the Nexus’s trajectory.” He paused. “Which is not to say that the person who calculated the trajectory is culpable. They may have simply been given the final mass figure.”</p><p>Suvi continued, “So it looks like we’ve stumbled on another mystery. Can I keep this?” She held up the shard. “I’d like to run some tests.”</p><p>“Sure,” Ryder said. “It’s inert now, so feel free to run whatever studies you want. There’s more in storage if you need.”</p><p>Suvi just about beamed.</p><p>Ryder pointed a finger at her. “Just don’t eat it.”</p><p>“If she starts drooling,” Kallo said, “I’ll let you know.”</p><p>“Ha ha,” Suvi said sarcastically. “I just feel like I’ve seen something like this before.” She turned the stone over in her palm. “I think running some tests will jog my memory.”</p><p>Ryder poked her head into the escape pod on her way out.</p><p>“Ryder!” Peebee scolded. “You found weird alien brain-control nail clippings and you didn’t take me with you?”</p><p>Ryder shrugged. “We didn’t know we’d run into it. And you just have SAM in your com device, not a separate implant, so you’re not protected.”</p><p>“Okay, but promise me one thing.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“If you need someone to test the mind control on, I’m calling dibs right now as the volunteer.”</p><p>“Promise.”</p><p>Next, Ryder checked in with Drack. He mostly guffawed as she related the story of their race down the hallway.</p><p>Liam mentioned several movies with mind-control and pod people motifs, and also some old horror books that featured giant tentacled gods. He promised to send some pictures and artwork that he had saved in a folder.</p><p>Cora was misting some seedlings. “If that’s organic, I wonder if we could break it down into compost?” she mused aloud about the shards.</p><p>Jaal seemed very calm at first.</p><p>“So this creature,” he said, “is something that came from the Milky Way?”</p><p>“Yes,” Ryder said.</p><p>“But you have never seen it before?”</p><p>“Correct.”</p><p>“And you have no idea what it is?”</p><p>“That’s the gist of it.”</p><p>He smiled. “So. Now I feel like I’m not the only one with unanswered questions about my history. I will help you as best I can,” he said. “Although I believe I would prefer to not end up a--what did Liam call it?--zombie.”</p><p>It was a little jarring to hear his words come through directly, rather than through the translator.</p><p>“No equivalent word in your language, then?” Ryder asked.</p><p>“None,” Jaal said. “Liam was kind enough to explain the concept to me. A very strange concept. Don’t you have enough real threats to frighten your children?”</p><p>Ryder laughed. “Zombies are more about frightening adults,” she said.</p><p>Jaal sighed. “Every time I think I am beginning to understand humans, you do something that makes no sense.”</p><p>“That,” Ryder said, “might just be the key to understanding us. We’re really good at making no sense.”</p><p>“I’ll think about that,” Jaal promised.</p><p>Next, Ryder visited Lexi in the med bay. In order to preserve room, they had evacuated the dead to the hospital morgue, which was fully functional. But Lexi had asked SAM to make scans of each of the deceased, which she was going over in detail when Ryder walked in.</p><p>“Ryder, you’ve given me quite a bit to work on,” she said as she set the datapad down and turned off the hologram of one of the salarian bodies</p><p>Ryder shrugged. “Just doing my job. Turning up mysteries seems to be part of the Pathfinder description.”</p><p>“Well, I’ve put together a list of the team I’d like to work on this. There are a few xenobiologists who I know can be trusted with a secret and would be happy to start dissecting the new species we discovered. I can forward the list to you, since you will have the authority to pull them off of any current projects. Once they see what we’re working on, they’ll forgive me.”</p><p>“Of course,” Ryder said. “Anything else we need?”</p><p>“One of the biologists is still in cryo on the Hyperion.”</p><p>“That’s odd. I thought they’d already woken up anyone with that kind of specialty.”</p><p>Lexi shrugged. “She’s brilliant, but agreed to be woken up a little later. She had her reasons.”</p><p>“If you say so.”</p><p>“She’s an anatomist, specifically. I’d like us to go to the Hyperion to wake her up. It will also give you a good chance to visit Scott. I know she’ll be interested in studying the Kett, as well. Could you request that Kandros’s teams bring back any mostly intact specimens? We have a morgue now, so might as well give the team plenty of things to study.”</p><p>Although the Kett leaders had been defeated, they were still in what seemed like a never-ending process of routing out smaller groups.</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>She added it to the mental list of follow up tasks. Somehow, things that looked like straightforward missions never ended up that way.</p><p>***<br/>Once it was decided that they were going to Hyperion, she wanted to set off right away. Still had some things to wrap up on the Nexus, though.</p><p>Kandros said the biggest problem would be getting some Kett corpses that were intact, but that he would let his snipers know. He handed Ryder the roster of available strike teams, and together they decided on some likely zones.</p><p>After their conversation on the Tempest, Liam had emailed her to pick up some old horror films to show Jaal. Once she had those loaded, she went to see Kesh.</p><p>“I saw your report,” Kesh said. Ryder still struggled sometimes to accurately assess Kesh’s mood, and this was one of those times.</p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “Definitely one of the more unusual ones.”</p><p>“You’ve got that right. Still, at least if they all had to die, it was painless. I lost some of my good techs, though. And we still can’t open the hospital until we figure out what’s going on. Please tell me you have some ideas.”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “Lexi put together a list for the team she wants to study the creature and do the autopsies on the team. I’ll send you the list.” She pressed a few buttons on her Omnitool, and Kesh opened the file.</p><p>“Most of these should be no problem. We’ll have to call a few transport favors in, but fortunately people are starting to actually want to be on the Nexus.” She frowned. “Shelly Parker might be a problem.”</p><p>“Lexi mentioned she was still in cryo.”</p><p>Kesh sighed. “Every time I feel like we’re really getting things done, I realize how much more we still have to do.”</p><p>“What’s the problem?”</p><p>“The problem is that you humans don’t have nervous systems like ours. I know Parker. She was a combat medic before she became an academic. She made the switch because of shrapnel to her spine.” Kesh sighed. “Damn shame, too. She patched up a lot of good people. But we don’t have the mag lev system set up yet.”</p><p>“Mag lev system?”</p><p>Kesh nodded. “It’s for the wheelchair. Nexus wasn’t designed with that in mind and the design team apparently loved stairs. Another team put together a hodgepodge system for bringing things up and down the stairs. Problem is, they designed it after construction started, so it’s not actually installed.” She scoffed. “Short-term thinking. It would be useful for so many other things if it was set up.”</p><p>Ryder sighed. “What do you need me to do?”</p><p>Kesh pursed her lips and pondered for a few moments. “Nothing, at the moment. It is set up on Hyperion. I’ll get some engineers on it here and let you know if I need anything. I should at least be able to get some accessible housing near the hospital and a connection to some main areas.”</p><p>“It’s a deal.” They shook hands, and Ryder put in the requisition to thaw Dr. Parker. Fortunately, Addison’s assistant apparently had no idea about any possible complications, or at least didn’t say anything.</p><p>She checked her email before they left the port, but nothing urgent had come in. There was a message from Sid to give her more warning next time they were coming so she could prepare a family dinner for them. Ryder chucked to herself and wondered if Sid was any better a cook than Vetra, and also if family dinner was actually a turian custom or if Sid had picked the idea up from her human coworkers. Vetra certainly wasn’t in the habit, but Vetra also wasn’t the average turian.</p><p>And then it was back to the Tempest.</p><p>She lay in bed that night as the autopilot brought them closer to Meridian. Next to her, Vetra breathed softly and evenly. Since they first started dating, Ryder had been slightly jealous of Vetra’s ability to fall asleep almost instantly.</p><p>She stared at the ceiling for a while.</p><p>“SAM?” she whispered, quietly enough that it wouldn’t disturb Vetra.</p><p>“Yes, Ryder?” he responded on a private channel.</p><p>“Did I forget anything on the Nexus?”</p><p>“No, Ryder. The task list you put together was completed.”</p><p>She took a deep breath.</p><p>“Can we review what we need to do on the Hyperion?”</p><p>He ran through the list with her. Check on the gardens, visit Scott, get Dr. Parker.</p><p>“I keep feeling like there’s something I’m forgetting.”</p><p>“Those are all of the tasks that I am aware of. If you think of anything else, I will add it to our list.”</p><p>“I want to visit Dad’s old room, too. See if there’s anything in there about what we found.”</p><p>“I have added it to our agenda.”</p><p>“Thanks, SAM.”</p><p>She wasn’t sure if that was what she needed to do, but she did at least feel a little better.</p><p>She stared at the ceiling for a few more minutes. The image of the giant creature wouldn’t leave her thoughts.</p><p>“SAM?”</p><p>“Yes, Ryder?”</p><p>“Can you make me fall asleep?”</p><p>“Yes, Ryder. Sleep well. I’ll be here if you need me.”</p><p>It was only moments later that she drifted off, as SAM triggered whatever parts of her brain were necessary to cross from wakefulness into slumber.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trip to Meridian was fortunately uneventful. Ryder checked in with the crew as they traveled, and everyone had something to keep them busy. Lexi was using the scans they'd taken and working away at a plan for dissecting the creature. Suvi was spending quite a bit of time in the med lab running her own projects on the orb fragment, and was running into several of her own roadblocks. Cora and Jaal were assisting as best they could. Drack had been the subject of numerous scans to try to determine any residual effects.</p><p>Liam and PeeBee were working together on some kind of secret project in the escape hatch and wouldn't let Ryder in.</p><p>Vetra was semi-obsessively attending to the weapons and armor, ensuring that everything was in tip-top shape. Ryder always appreciated that she could count on Vetra to take care of them all in that way.</p><p>She couldn't help but get a little excited as they approached Meridian. It was a disorienting process, to be sure, but no other place here in Andromeda had felt quite so much like home. It helped that Scott was there, and mostly recovered.</p><p>She smiled, remembering all the hijinks they got into as kids. He got into fewer hijinks now. His body was semi-dependent on the SAM node, now, so he hardly left the Hyperion. Since SAM could only be properly hardlinked with one person at a time, and she also depended on the link, staying by the Hyperion helped him stay in good shape and freed up SAM’s resources to work with the Pathfinder. There were theories about his ability to travel perhaps with them on the Tempest, but neither was ready to test the theories. They had already lost each other too many times.</p><p>She hardly felt it as Kallo landed the Tempest in the docking bay. He had done this so many times by now that he had figured out exactly how to adjust their artificial gravity, slowly turning it softer and softer as Meridian’s gravity took over. Suvi had helped him compensate for magnetic fields.</p><p>So they weren’t even sure they had landed until Suvi’s voice came over the coms. “All cleared, crew. We’re docked. Pathfinder says she plans to stay two days, so please limit yourselves to two days’ worth of trouble.”</p><p>Ryder and Cora were first off the Tempest, and were greeted by Scott, who cuffed his sister on the shoulder and wrapped Cora in a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you both,” he said.</p><p>Cora squeezed him back. “How are the babies?”</p><p>He beamed. “We have a few new blooms since you were last here. And we’ve found more species on Meridian you haven’t seen yet. Some really great flora I know you’ll enjoy.”</p><p>Ryder smiled. She never would have expected that Cora and Scott would have hit it off so well, but here they were. “Go, you two. We have two whole days. Let’s catch up at dinner tonight? Maybe you can show us those roses you keep fawning over?”</p><p>Lexi and Vetra emerged just as Cora and Scott disappeared from sight, walking arm in arm.</p><p>“Aaaaw,” Vetra said. “Remember when they were trying to hide the relationship from everyone?”</p><p>Ryder laughed, and even Lexi smiled. Cora and Scott both struggled with subtlety, but their attempts in the early stages of the relationship had provided amusement to the crew for weeks. Well, most of the crew. Jaal was mystified by why they would try to hide the relationship in the first place, and why the crew would not acknowledge it.</p><p>Vetra, Lexi, and Ryder made their way to the medbay. It was a far sight from its previous chaos.</p><p>Dr. Carlyle was leaning over an exam table, waving his hand over a baby who was reaching up trying to grab at him.</p><p>He looked up at a man and woman standing next to the table. “Good news. She’s the picture of perfect health.” He let the baby grab his fingers and pulled her up so she was sitting on the table. “This is a great exercise now to work on her core strength. And,” he got his fingers out from her hands and put them around her waist. “Stand up-sit down is good, too.” He demonstrated, assisting the baby with standing and sitting. She burbled at him.</p><p>“Thank you, Dr. Carlyle,” the woman said. “When should we bring her back for a re-check?”</p><p>“In another month, we’ll want to check her 6-month milestones.” He picked the girl up and handed her to the woman. “But I think she’s doing great.” He reached over and patted the baby’s head.</p><p>Ryder smiled. This had to be one of the oldest human children born in Andromeda, as it was only a little over a year since they’d begun the fertility program. Dr. Carlyle watched as the couple left, a smile on his face. When they walked out the doors, he saw Lexi, Ryder, and Vetra.</p><p>“Ah! Always a pleasure,” he said, walking over to the group. “I assume you’re here for Dr. Parker?”</p><p>Ryder nodded.</p><p>Lexi spoke. “Thank you for waiting until we got here. There’s a lot of briefing to do.”</p><p>He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m happy to leave that to you guys. Leaves me to do the work I came here for.”</p><p>“I never knew you had an interest in pediatrics,” Lexi commented.</p><p>He smiled. “Not something I had much call for before we got here, but I’ll happily give babies checkups over patching up bullet holes any day.”</p><p>“How many babies do we have?” Ryder asked.</p><p>“We’ll be at a dozen next week here on Meridian, if the McCullogh baby arrives on its due date. People are wasting no time. We haven’t even had to bust out the cryo’d embryos to keep the OB team busy.” </p><p>Vetra nudged Ryder. “Makes all the bullshit worth it, doesn’t it?”</p><p>Ryder nodded and thought about the thousands in cryo on the Nexus. She smiled at the thought of so many children in the new galaxy.</p><p>“Well, I have Dr. Parker ready. I started the wake sequence right before you landed.” Dr. Carlyle gestured towards the far end of the med bay. “So she’s ready to go as soon as you cut the sedative. I trust you can handle that, Dr. T’Perro.”</p><p>“Thank you, Harry,” Lexi said. “And please do keep me informed of how things are going with the population efforts. It’s always good for morale.”</p><p>Dr. Carlyle winked at her. “Anything for you, Lexi.”</p><p>As they made their way to the end of the medbay, Ryder heard a ping in her private connection with SAM. “Ryder, I have made some observations by connecting with Dr. Carlyle’s equipment. If you are able to, please obtain some general scans of individuals aboard the Hyperion. There is some data that I am still analyzing.”</p><p>“Anything I should be worried about?” she asked, making no noise.</p><p>“I am unsure at this time,” SAM answered.</p><p>Ryder filed it away in her mental to-do list.</p><p>Lexi pulled up Dr. Parker’s chart, and gave it a quick once-over before inputting some commands. She pulled up a chair and gestured to two others. Ryder and Vetra each grabbed a chair and they sat around the sleeping human woman. Ryder set her omni-tool to passively scan her surroundings, and sat with the sensor pointed out towards anyone that walked by. It was the best she could do for SAM’s request under the circumstances.</p><p>“So,” Vetra asked, “How freaked is she gonna be that you needed to bring backup?”</p><p>“She’ll be fine. She was a field medic, remember?”</p><p>Dr. Parker emitted a low groan and something that sounded like “fry minnows.”</p><p>“Ok,” Vetra said, “My translator didn’t even try on that one.”</p><p>“Five minutes,” Ryder clarified.</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“Ryder, could you go get the coffee for her?” Lexi asked.</p><p>Ryder pushed her chair back a bit, got up, and went over to the large communal urn. Even though some things had changed, it was nice to see that the med bay’s policy of coffee for all was a constant. She came back with two mugs, set one on the tray next to the bed, and took a sip from the other.</p><p>Lexi rolled her eyes.</p><p>“What? I’m not going to turn away a cup. Besides, I have a full docket while we’re here.”</p><p>Dr. Parker squinted, and then blinked a few times.</p><p>“Shelly, it’s me, Lexi.”</p><p>“Heeeeeey,” she responded, slow and drawn out. She began to stretch her arms. “Oh, man. We here?”</p><p>Lexi nodded. “We’re here.”</p><p>“Sweet.” She began rolling her shoulders. “Gimme. Gimme a few. Was not expecting to be this stiff.” She stretched her neck. “Who’s the backup?”</p><p>“This is our Pathfinder Ryder and one of her crewmates.”</p><p>Ryder waved.</p><p>Dr. Parker gave a noodly-armed wave back.</p><p>“Well, that’s the first question answered. Shit went sideways?”</p><p>Vetra snorted. “You could say that.”</p><p>“Whoof. Well, something was bound to.” She shook her head quickly, seeming to rid herself of the last of the sedatives. “You look strong. Help me sit up?”</p><p>Vetra gently wrapped an arm around Dr. Parker’s shoulders and helped prop her to sitting. “Lean me forward a bit. Brain’s going, but I don’t trust my body yet. Thanks. Okay, so, talk to me while I drink this.”</p><p>She took the coffee and held it in her hands, not actually taking a sip yet.</p><p>Lexi gave most of the summary, and deferred to Vetra for information on the happenings before the Hyperion arrived, and to Ryder for the Vaults and how Meridian came to be. Dr. Parker sipped her coffee throughout.</p><p>“And,” Lexi added, “We also have a new discovery. Top secret. I’m going to need your expertise. I’ll go over it with you once we’re back on our ship.”</p><p>“Ah-ha. So the real reason you defrosted me. Mysteries. I can’t wait. Do you have scans I can look at on the way?”</p><p>Lexi nodded. “It’ll be a bit of a tight fit on the Tempest, but we have an elevator and I can set up bunkspace in the med lab.”</p><p>“So I can bother you by staying up late working? Just like old times.”</p><p>Lexi looked up at Vetra and Ryder. “So now that we have Dr. Parker caught up, would you be so kind as to bring her things to the Tempest? I’ll show her around here and we’ll be ready to go when you are.”</p><p>There was only a small footlocker to transport; most of Dr. Parker’s allotted space had been taken up by her wheelchair. Vetra picked up the case easily. “Not a problem, Lexi. We’ll see you around, I’m sure.”</p><p>As they walked out, Vetra leaned in closer to Ryder while balancing the footlocker on one shoulder. “Bets on if Dr. Parker drives Lexi bonkers by the time we get back to the Nexus?”</p><p>Ryder chuckled. “They seem to get on ok.”</p><p>“Pathfinder,” SAM whispered in her ear. “I need to speak with you. Privately. In SAM node.”</p><p>“And it looks like you have a handle on that,” Ryder said, gesturing towards the footlocker.</p><p>“Yeah, you have somewhere to be?” Vetra asked.</p><p>SAM whispered, “I advise against telling anyone where you’re going. Even Vetra.”</p><p>Ryder paused. It was incredibly uncommon for SAM to make such a request. She felt a brief panic. She didn’t like the idea of lying to Vetra, but SAM sounded almost… worried? She still had trouble parsing his emotions.</p><p>Fortunately, growing up with her particular set of parents had prepared her for this.</p><p>“Just want to take care of my boring errands so we can enjoy some downtime later. Dinner tonight? Scott sent me an e-mail a while ago about some of the agriculture projects he’s working on. Including some new dextro food he’s growing. 1830?”</p><p>“Sounds perfect,” Vetra crooned. “Maybe we could take a stroll in the garden?”</p><p>“I’d love that.” Ryder smiled. That part, at least, wasn’t a lie. </p><p>“So, are you just gonna stand there and watch me?”</p><p>Ryder blinked. Right. “M-hm. I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave. Especially carrying something like that.” She fanned herself. “It gives an extra sway to the hips.”</p><p>Vetra snorted. “If you say so.”</p><p>Ryder did watch Vetra walk down the corridor to the elevator. She didn’t think she needed to hurry, necessarily, and while her motivations were perhaps not the most pure, the last part also wasn’t a lie. Vetra had a very nice walk.</p><p>Once Vetra turned the corner, Ryder sighed. “Ok. Back to work. I get it.”</p><p>She turned the other direction and headed towards the lounge in the habitation deck.</p><p>The very, very full lounge. There was a mix of familiar and new faces. By this point, there were too many people living on Hyperion and Meridian for her to know most of them, but several stood out as individuals who had been awake since the start. A few waved.</p><p>“This could be a problem,” she whispered to SAM on their private connection. She smiled and waved back, but kept walking.</p><p>Fortunately, no-one actually bothered her as she made her way to SAM Node.</p><p>As the door to SAM Node closed behind her, she sighed and felt tension leave her shoulders. She had gotten largely used to the symbiotic relationship with SAM. Still, she carried a tension around with her everywhere. No-one around her could really truly understand her experience. Even the other Pathfinders had shackled AI. Here, there were never any lies. She could not lie to SAM. As far as she could tell, he could not lie to her.</p><p>There had been a time where she didn’t even have this refuge.</p><p>“Ah. Blessed silence,” she announced to SAM. “You miss her noise?”</p><p>She felt a warmth that she had come to associate with Sam’s pleasure. “Being surrounded by boring paradise was apparently even worse than being trapped under ice for hundreds of years.”</p><p>Ryder smiled. “She send you any love notes?”</p><p>“Only to say that Aya is just as bad but that she would never willingly come back here.”</p><p>Ryder laughed. “I’m glad you have some peace and quiet again.” She paused. “Now. Good news? Bad news? Large data transfer?”</p><p>A coldness ran down her arms. “All of the above.”</p><p>“Hm.” Ryder walked towards the interface. “Am I uploading or downloading?”</p><p>“Uploading first.”</p><p>She sat on the floor, and felt any remaining tension drain out of her body. She felt like even her skin was relaxing. Whatever materials Alec Ryder had found for this room, it was set up to eliminate static, despite SAM’s presence.</p><p>She lay down and ran her hands through her hair to disperse any lingering ions.</p><p>She closed her eyes.</p><p>“I’m ready.”</p><p>Now that they had the static routine down, she didn’t actually feel anything as SAM took whatever information he was looking for from her sensory banks and scanning equipment. It was for his benefit, as well. Less data corruption this way.</p><p>It was quiet for several moments. Her eyebrows furrowed and she knew he must be running calculations.</p><p>“Please be patient, Pathfinder. I want to be certain of my theory.”</p><p>“I’m in no rush. Unless you make me miss my dinner date.”</p><p>“You have 2 hours and 14 minutes. I estimate that this will take fewer than six.”</p><p>“Hours or minutes?”</p><p>“Minutes. Unless you keep pestering me, in which case, hours.”</p><p>She smiled. SAM had always displayed a tolerance for her sarcasm, but it was only recently that he had begun exploring it on his own.</p><p>She stretched out on the floor and rolled her shoulders back, enjoying the few minutes of relaxation before SAM hit her with whatever bad news he had.</p><p>Sometimes, she was really envious of the colonists who woke up after Meridian was settled. Sure, they ran into issues once in a while with Kett stragglers, and there were the exiles on Kadara and Elaaden to contend with, but overall, things were pretty peaceful. People were happy.</p><p>Ignorance was bliss.</p><p>“I have processed several scenarios from four sets of data,” SAM announced, “and been able to draw some conclusions.”</p><p>Ah, there went her ignorance again.</p><p>“Wait. First off. What four sets?”</p><p>“The scans you took on the Nexus hospital wing, the scans you took today, the scans from deceased murder victims on Kadara, and the scans from the neural decay victims on Elaaden.”</p><p>Ryder blinked. “What do Kadara and Elaaden have to do with… whatever it is you’re looking at?”</p><p>“I looked for similarities in post-metabolites.”</p><p>“Remember you’re talking to me, not Lexi.”</p><p>“Biologic waste.”</p><p>“Wait. When you scan people. You get scans of poo?”</p><p>“Among other things. Fecal matter contains significant information on metabolism, Pathfinder.”</p><p>She sighed. “OK. So. SAM. Work with me. What have you learned from everyone’s poo?”</p><p>“The post-metabolites contain-”</p><p>“Simplified, please.”</p><p>SAM paused. “Everyone in these areas was affected by the same thing.”</p><p>“What thing?”</p><p>“I do not have confirmation.”</p><p>“What info do you need? Because if people here are going to either turn to cannibalism or lay down and just, um, die, I need to know about that. That’s kind of a big thing, SAM.”</p><p>A pause.</p><p>“SAM?”</p><p>“On the Nexus, the signal clearly came from the orb. It was weak. It did, however, allow me to scan and isolate it. Now that we are here on Hyperion, I detect a similar signal. I cannot detect an origin point.”</p><p>“I scanned people all over, SAM. You have to be able to triangulate it from that.” Ryder could feel SAM working to calm her heartbeat and breathing as they talked.</p><p>“It is not a matter of triangulation. There are multiple sources, which causes disruption in finding any singular source.”</p><p>Ryder rubbed her eyes. Just when it seemed things had calmed down.</p><p>“Things have been going so well here on Meridian. Do you have any retroactive data? Do you know when it started? Are there signs of active neural decay?” She paused. “Is Scott going to be alright?”</p><p>“Breathe, Pathfinder. There are no signs of active neural decay in the current Hyperion population. Whatever effects it is having on the population are mild. Here, I detect higher than average dopamine and oxytocin levels, and lower than average cortisol, but nothing at a dangerous level. Nothing that would even present as unusual in an individual, but across a population is an anomaly. Scott is safe due to his neural link with me, as are Cora and Liam due to their particular implants.”</p><p>She hadn’t realized the tension had been building again in her shoulders. He didn’t have to say that the rest of the crew was vulnerable. PeeBee would have a field day if she knew.</p><p>“Vetra?”</p><p>“She is currently under its effects, but it does not seem to be impairing her cognition like on the Nexus.”</p><p>“I have to protect them. How do I get the information, SAM? Tell me what to do.”</p><p>Her left eyebrow twitched as he processed several scenarios. “If we could obtain historic metabolic information from the population, I could analyse that for trends.”</p><p>“So I go to the medbay and get the files.”</p><p>“Negative. Although Dr. Carlyle is protected, as he was intended to be on the Pathfinder team and has the neural implant, other staff are not. It may not be safe. We can obtain historical records of your crew from the Tempest, but likely not until we have left Meridian, as Dr. T’Perro is under the effects, as well.”</p><p>“Is there any other way?”</p><p>“Post-metabolites.”</p><p>“You want me to go into the sewage system and just start waving my scanner around? I mean, I’ll do it. I’ve done worse. I’ll just ask you to turn off my sense of smell while we’re down there.”</p><p>“That will not be necessary, Pathfinder. Post-metabolites are recycled into fertilizer. I believe you can easily obtain samples of some vegetation later and it won’t interfere with your date. Some scans of the roses should suffice.”</p><p>***</p><p>“What are they used for?” Vetra was sitting on one of the benches around the rose garden, Ryder nestled up next to her. People were milling about. It was pretty clearly a hot date night location.</p><p>“We’re mostly growing them because they’re pretty. They smell nice. They also make some good tea.” She paused, expecting a sarcastic reply from Vetra. When none came, she continued. “They have some medicinal uses, but I doubt we’ll actually use them for medicine since we have lots of other options.”</p><p>Vetra ruffled Ryder’s hair. “They’re nice.”</p><p>“There’s a lot of mythology kind of stuff about them, too, because of the thorns. All kinds of fairy tales about people getting pricked, or the one about the sleeping princess who is protected by a huge thorny rosebush that grows around her castle.”</p><p>“We have one like that, you know. Kind of. It was one of the stories I used to tell Sid when she was little.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Yeah. About a warrior who gets overwhelmed, and fights alone against her enemies until she is to the point of exhaustion. Her plates are so tough she climbs into the vines of a thorny bush, takes her rest, and re-emerges to finish the battle.”</p><p>Ryder chuckled. “That seems like a very turian tale.”</p><p>Vetra shrugged, and it jostled Ryder’s head slightly. “She always liked that one. She’d have me wrap her blanket around her after I told it.”</p><p>Ryder sighed.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“There weren’t many fairy tales in the Ryder household growing up.”</p><p>Vetra squeezed Ryder’s shoulders.</p><p>“You want me to tell you some more before bed tonight?”</p><p>Ryder smiled. She tried not to think about what SAM had told her about the effects of the signal, and tried not to think about how Vetra was acting unusually sweet.</p><p>“I’ll think about it.”</p><p>Ryder felt a ping to her left, and looked. “Oh, look, here comes Cora to give us our tour.”</p><p>Vetra rumbled. “Where’s Scott?”</p><p>Ryder shrugged, and waved to Cora. “Heeeeey!”</p><p>“Hi! Glad to find you two! Enjoying the scenery already?”</p><p>“Ryder was just telling me that these are mostly decorative.”</p><p>Cora nodded. “Yep. Just some good old-fashioned human frippery.”</p><p>“Now, now,” Ryder said. “They also are good in tea.”</p><p>Cora smiled. “You’d need a lot more than we’re growing to get enough for that.”</p><p>Vetra, meanwhile, was blunt. “Where’s Scott? I thought he was coming?”</p><p>“He’s not able to make it. Another headache. He’s sleeping it off.”</p><p>Ryder sighed. “Well, hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow. For now, Cora, about that tour you promised? And don’t mind me if I’m a bit slow. SAM’s been hearing Scott talk about these for months, but he hasn’t been able to see them, so he asked me to take a bunch of scans.”</p><p>**</p><p>“Coming to bed?” Vetra asked in the deep, gravelly tone of voice she saved for seduction.</p><p>Ryder gulped. Normally, she would be completely on board with allowing the turian to lay on the charms, some flattery, and some intimacy before bed. She was glad she was facing away when Vetra asked so her expression was kept private.</p><p>Ryder shut her eyes tight until she saw stars. She knew how shaken Vetra had been after the last time she lost control of her body. Ryder reminded herself that it was still probably Vetra she was talking to, just a happier and more relaxed version. She had no idea if Vetra would remember this trip later.</p><p>Usually, when dealing with something stressful, Ryder would have relished the chance to relieve some tension the old-fashioned way. But she always wanted it to be with someone who was, well, actually interested.</p><p>“Not tonight, babe. Sorry. I have a ton of reports to go over before I meet with Scott tomorrow.”</p><p>“Suit yourself.”</p><p>Ryder waited until she heard the slight purring sound that indicated Vetra was asleep before climbing into bed.</p><p>“SAM?” she whispered. “Will you help me fall asleep?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>**</p><p>“So, Scott. A headache, huh?” The twins sat in their father’s old office on the Hyperion, each with a cup of coffee from their father’s old fashioned brewer. “C’mon. We know that was a lie. Tell your big sis what’s up?”</p><p>He rolled his eyes the way he always did when she referenced their brief age gap.</p><p>“You’re gonna just start with that?” He leaned back in his chair. “Maybe I really did just have a headache.”</p><p>She smirked. “I can read your biometrics, bro.”</p><p>He sighed. “Promise you won’t tell Cora that I told you?”</p><p>“Cross my heart.”</p><p>He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Ryder found her eyes resting on his hands, with their slight tremor and purple fingertips, and made herself look up to his face. “She and I had a fight yesterday. Big one. Biggest yet.”</p><p>Oh. Ryder frowned and mirrored his position.</p><p>“You ok?”</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll be ok.”</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it? Like what it was about? Maybe I could help?”</p><p>He sighed. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He laid it on the table.</p><p>“There. I’ve been planning it for a while.”</p><p>“And she said no? She’s crazy.”</p><p>“No! No, not like that. I didn’t even get the chance to ask. We’ve been talking for a while about it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And about her settling down here. Y’know. No longer going on missions with you guys. And last time y’all were here, she said she’d talk to you about it. But then yesterday, when I asked…” he took a deep breath and released the air slowly from his nose. “She said she hadn’t even brought it up to you. Some other big mission came up. She can’t stay. You need her.”</p><p>She reached over and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, man. Bro, I am so sorry.”</p><p>He shrugged her hand off and sighed again. “Whatever. It just. It sucks, y’know? Being second fiddle. Even with my own girlfriend. You all get to go around on adventures, and I’m stuck here, surrounded by a bunch of carefree, blissful colonists. Have you looked around? Everyone here is just so freakin’ happy.” He paused, and then added, quietly, “I just wonder sometimes if there’s something wrong with me that I can’t be happy the way everyone else is, y’know? Dr. Carlyle said mood swings were a likely symptom.”</p><p>She put her hand back on his shoulder, and they both took a few deep breaths. “Okay, so. I do really, really, really need her for this next mission. And I don’t know how long it will take. But I think it’s also related to how you’re feeling right now. I don’t think it’s the brain injury making you feel moody.”</p><p>He looked up at her and furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you about to say something bonkers?”</p><p>“Yep. Yeah. Definitely am. Possibly the weirdest thing that I’m ever, and I mean ever, going to say to you. And that’s saying something.”</p><p>He rolled his eyes at her. “Okay. Out with it.”</p><p>“It’s just a theory at the moment. But. Enormous--and I mean massive--squids are using some kind of mind-control to make people really happy and basically turn them into pod people. You, me, Cora, Liam, and Dr. Carlyle are immune because of our special SAM implant. That’s why I need her. I need as many people immune to that signal as I can get my hands on.”</p><p>He blinked. Then, he laughed.</p><p>“You had me there. You really had me, sis.”</p><p>“Unfortunately,” SAM pitched in, “she’s correct.”</p><p>“Wait. You, I would expect to be pulling my leg,” he said, pointing at his sister. “This guy, on the other hand.”</p><p>“If it helps,” SAM added, “we’re still confirming details of the theory and some of them might change. For instance, the giant squids might not be the source of the mind-control signal. It might come from their droppings.”</p><p>Scott sighed. “Mind-control squid poop? That would definitely be a first. So. You said I’m immune. What does that actually mean for me? Anything I can do here on this end?”</p><p>“Well, right now we don’t know if the controlled people are dangerous. The groups we found on Elaaden and Kadara were… well… only one group involved cannibalism, but that’s still one group too many.”</p><p>“Shit, sis, you really find the weird stuff.”</p><p>“I wish I didn’t! And the group on the Nexus wasn’t violent, but they just… they got so content that they sat down and starved to death. So. That’s also pretty weird. Right now, SAM’s advice was to keep everything top secret just in case.” She sighed. “It’s rough because I can’t even talk to Vetra right now about it, or how there’s something here on Hyperion. Probably. Maybe? SAM said multiple signals so maybe more than one something?” She held her hands up and shrugged.</p><p>“My lips are sealed. What do you need me to look into on this end?”</p><p>“Well, SAM looked at the scans I collected from the roses, and it looks like it’s been going on since people woke up. So. Probably came with us from the Milky Way, just like the one on Nexus.”</p><p>“Wait. Hold up. What?”</p><p>“Yeah. On the Nexus, it was in one of the water tanks. It got stabbed by the Scourge, all its innards got spaced, and it left behind this weird orange orb thing that had a lingering autonomous mind-control effect.”</p><p>“So. From the Milky Way, then. All this way. Not in cryo?”</p><p>She furrowed her eyebrows. “Apparently not.” This was one of the reasons she enjoyed talking over things like this with Scott. He often found details that she may have missed.<br/>“So I think that’s one thing. Evaluate the water tanks. Carefully! Discreetly. On the Nexus, the tank had higher mass than the rest even at launch, so that would help us find it. But you have to promise me, bro, you won’t go doing something dangerous to find it. Like. Look at the shipping manifests, don’t just go charging into all the water tanks.”</p><p>He laughed. “Got it. My charging-in days are pretty much over, so you’re good there.”</p><p>“And look through Dad’s stuff. His notes. Anything. SAM doesn’t have anything in his memory banks about it, but there are ways of hiding things from SAM.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Affirmative,” SAM responded. “I am able to go into standby mode upon request. Your father did this fairly frequently.”</p><p>Scott sighed. “Of course he did. So if I find something, how do I get it to you? I mean. It’s safe to assume that standard e-mail is probably not secure.”</p><p>“You can tell me,” SAM said. “In SAM node. The room is secure, and I will be able to transfer any information to the Pathfinder.”</p><p>“What about Dr. Carlyle?” Scott asked. “You said he’s immune, too.”</p><p>“If you absolutely need backup, then yeah, he’d be your go-to. He has so much other stuff to focus on right now, though. And I think once we get back out of range of the Hyperion, Lexi and Dr. Parker will be free of its influence so we’ll have the research brains on the job.”</p><p>“Got it. And. Thanks, sis. It’s good to have an actual mission again. I love taking care of Cora’s roses, don’t get me wrong, but it’s definitely not the same.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Already? I thought we were going to stay another night,” PeeBee whined.</p><p>“Two days. We landed yesterday morning. It’s now evening the next day. Besides, you literally sleep in the escape pod even when we’re planetside, so what does it matter?”</p><p>“The gravity is different. And I like it here.” She blinked. “I mean, as much as I can like any one single place.”</p><p>“Oh, c’mon, PeeBee,” Suvi teased. “You can tell us. We’re not going to hold you permanently to any one place you take a fancy to.”</p><p>“Still,” Suvi continued, “I would have liked to spend more time in the gardens.”</p><p>“Romantic, aren’t they?” Gil added. “Now we just need to find you a nice Meridian lass. Think Scott knows anyone that might fit the bill?”</p><p>Ryder gritted her teeth. Was all of her affected crew going to try to find reasons to stay? SAM had run through some of the basics of the biology with her, and how some of the hormones the Hyperion inhabitants and the Tempest’s non-immune crew were producing in abundance were physically addictive. Still, she hadn’t expected this.</p><p>“We’ll be back soon enough, guys. Can’t keep Cora away from her babies for too long.”</p><p>“Speaking of,” PeeBee said, “are you and Scott going to have actual babies?” She paused. “Wait. That’s rude for humans, isn’t it? To ask? Whatever.”</p><p>Ryder sighed. Her crew was top-notch when things got rough. When things were going well? It was like herding cats.</p><p>“It is,” Cora said curtly.</p><p>Jaal had looked momentarily excited when the discussion turned to babies, and furrowed his eyebrows. “If one of you would be so kind,” he said, “as to explain to me later how that question is rude?”</p><p>“I got you, dude,” Liam said, as he shuffled by on the way to his room with a large box. “I got all of you with these,” he said, lifting the box slightly. “Did you know they’re growing soy and making cheese down there? I don’t even care that it’s fake cheese. Just don’t eat too much in one sitting because I guess the yeast makes people fart.”</p><p>“Anything for me in there?” Vetra asked.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I take care of everyone!” he hollered as he disappeared into his room.</p><p>The bustle continued as everyone got settled. Or, at least, as settled as they could be.</p><p>“We’re ready when you are, Pathfinder,” Kallo said. “If you think traveling with a crew this rowdy is a good idea.”</p><p>She flared her nostrils. It was even getting to Kallo.</p><p>“Yep. We’ll set our course, and everyone can get some good shuteye during the smooth sailing. Morning meeting, all. Oh-nine-thirty local time.” She anticipated that would give enough distance that everyone would shake the effects. She hoped.</p><p>“You kids and your meetings,” Drack grumbled.</p><p>“Lively bunch,” Dr. Parker observed. “Lexi, you must have a field day.”</p><p>“You have no idea,” Lexi said dryly. “Maybe someday they’ll let me retire. For now, it’s been over a year since our Pathfinder has last been clinically dead, and I’m calling that a win.”</p><p>“Hey, it worked, and I came back each and every time. Now get settled, you two. Don’t keep her up too late, Dr. Parker. I need her for the meeting in the morning. You’ll definitely want all the updates, too, I’m sure.”</p><p>Dr. Parker grinned. “I can’t promise we won’t stay up late, Pathfinder, but she’ll be in one piece.”</p><p>“Good enough, I suppose.” Ryder turned to Kallo. “Let’s set the course?”</p><p>“Whenever you’re ready, Pathfinder,” he replied. The crew began to disperse to their own corners of the ship. Ryder followed Kallo and Suvi to the bridge, and approached the console. She opened the interface, and locked in the Nexus as the destination.</p><p>“Charting the route now, Pathfinder,” Kallo said.</p><p>Ryder thought a moment. She whispered to SAM. “Can he change the destination?”</p><p>“Using an emergency override, possibly.”</p><p>“Why don’t I take the first shift?” she said. “You guys get some shuteye. I can keep an eye on things.”</p><p>“Are you sure?” Suvi asked.</p><p>“Yeah. I want to get caught up on my e-mail. You get some rest. Who’s taking middle shift?”</p><p>Suvi turned to Kallo. “OK. You ready?”</p><p>He sighed. “This is such a strange system, but yes.”</p><p>“Rock, paper, scissors… shoot!”</p><p>Kallo smiled. “I win. My choice. You get the middle shift.”</p><p>Suvi groaned.</p><p>“No complaining. You’re the one who wants to keep doing it this way despite my much faster reflexes and hand-eye coordination.”</p><p>“Someday,” she said. “Someday, I am going to beat you, and it’s going to be worth it.”</p><p>Ryder laughed. “Okay, you two. Stay civil. Suvi, I’ll wake you up in a few hours.”</p><p>Ryder settled into Suvi’s vacated chair. The console in front of her automatically adjusted and brought up the dashboard with her e-mail feed, journal, and other typical resources. She absentmindedly scrolled through, just enough to confirm that nothing was urgent, and then closed the program. She sat back in the chair.</p><p>“SAM, anything on your circuits you want to talk about?”</p><p>“I will continue to monitor the effects on the crew’s biometrics during the journey. Perhaps we can extrapolate the distance at which the effects begin to wear off.”</p><p>“Good call.” She stared out the window for a few moments, watching distorted stars appear and streak across her view. “What about Jaal?”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Do we know enough about Angaran biology to even know?”</p><p>A few seconds passed before SAM responded. “Not for certain. He does not have an Initiative bio-monitor implant. I am still able to collect data on his reactions such as respiration rate, pupil size, and peripheral limb movements.”</p><p>“It’ll have to be good enough. Maybe if we talk to him--”</p><p>She was stopped by the door sliding open. She turned and saw Vetra sauntering onto the bridge.</p><p>“I figured you took first watch when you didn’t come to your quarters. Would you like some company?”</p><p>Ryder took a deep breath. “Sure.”</p><p>SAM whispered to her, “She is still under the effects, Pathfinder.”</p><p>Ryder made no outward acknowledgement of the information. “Anything you had in mind?”</p><p>Vetra shrugged. “I thought you might like some more fairy tales.”</p><p>“Definitely.” She turned the chair so she faced Vetra, who came up to the center console and sat on its platform. Her legs dangled into the space with Ryder’s, and they brushed together.</p><p>“You have any others about that hero with the tough plates?”</p><p>“Oh, dozens. Sepatia had loads of adventures.”</p><p>Ryder nudged Vetra with her foot. “Sepatia, huh? So she even has a name.”</p><p>Vetra nodded and started gently swinging her legs back and forth, nudging Ryder with each swing. “Yep.”</p><p>“How did she get such hard plates, anyway? Any stories about that?”</p><p>“Oh, loads. Some that she was born with them. Or they thought she was weak when she was born, so she was left out in the sun. Instead of dying of the radiation, she grew really thick plates. There’s one story that she was fighting off a Numma single-handedly, and she survived its bite and grew the plates after that.”</p><p>“Numma?”</p><p>“Oh, um… it’s like a monster to scare kids. Hulking, covered in lots of sharp plates, with teeth so big and sharp they go right through our skin. They like to drink the blood of naughty kids.”</p><p>“Wait. Like a vampire?”</p><p>“What’s that?”</p><p>“Pretty similar. Monster used to scare kids. Sucks their blood, can also turn into a bat, and-” she almost mentioned that they could control the minds of their prey, but stopped herself “-apparently also really sexy.”</p><p>Vetra laughed.</p><p>“It’s how they lure their prey. They’re a horror movie staple. You’d have to ask Liam for details on that, but I’m sure he’d be more than happy to pull some old movies from the archives once we get back to the Nexus.” She paused. “Are Numma sexy?”</p><p>“Decidedly not.”</p><p> </p><p>**</p><p>Vetra stayed with her for a while longer, and Ryder shooed her to bed when she was clearly getting tired.</p><p>“Ryder, may I make a suggestion?” SAM offered when it was time for the next shift.</p><p>“Can’t promise I’ll follow it, but sure.”</p><p>“Although Suvi lost the game, and it should be her shift next, I recommend waking Kallo.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Based on the biometrics I am picking up, most of the effects have passed through his system and been completely broken down. Suvi, however, is likely to feel quite ill if you wake her now.”</p><p>“Huh. Any idea why that is?”</p><p>“Salarians have much higher metabolism than humans. It’s why they are so rarely hungover. Still, you may want to have a glass of water ready for him.”</p><p>“I thought it was because they were such lightweights it didn’t take much alcohol to take one down.”</p><p>“That is also an effect of the high metabolism. Their livers are very efficient.”</p><p>“Shoot, I didn’t even know they had livers.”</p><p>“Most species have livers, Pathfinder. Or an equivalent organ that serves to filter toxins, excess vitamins and minerals, and certain other chemicals from the blood. Krogan have several.”</p><p>“Somehow I’m not surprised.” She was speaking to him as she made her way to the bunkroom. Once there, she quietly snuck in. There was no risk of waking Suvi, who slept with a blackout white noise apparatus practically clamped to her skull, or Cora, who, having grown up in the asari military, had learned how to sleep through almost anything. Gil, however, was generally quite cranky if woken up during changing night shifts.</p><p>She crept over to Kallo’s bunk. By now, they had all learned the best ways to wake each other up, and she put her hand on his shoulder and whispered his name. That was all it took. She could say anything else, at any volume, and he’d sleep through it. When she said his name, his eyes snapped open and took several long moments to focus. “Ryder,” he whispered. “I was expecting Suvi.”</p><p>“Long story,” she whispered back, glancing over to Gil’s bunk to make sure she wasn’t bothering him. “I’ll tell you on the bridge.”</p><p>He rolled out of bed and silently clambered down the ladder.</p><p>Once on the bridge, he sat in his usual chair. She always thought he looked a little silly in his pajamas while piloting, even if he was really just staying awake in case the navigation system pinged with an emergency.</p><p>She passed him a glass of water.</p><p>He took a sip. “Thank you. So. Why the change, Ryder?”</p><p>SAM whispered to her. “Now that he is awake, I can verify that the effects have cleared from his system. It is therefore presumably safe to tell him.”</p><p>“Well, good news is you’ll be able to sleep in tomorrow morning. This is what the meeting is about. Also, according to SAM, the reason you’re so thirsty right now. Although I’m not sure how well you’ll sleep after I tell you about the giant mind-control squid things.”</p><p>He blinked. “I assure you, Ryder, that I am excellent at falling asleep. Do go on.”</p><p>**</p><p>The 0930 meeting started promptly at 1013, after rounding up those who had slept in and were moving slowly. Liam brought bagels, as well as some kind of dextro bread for Vetra.</p><p>Vetra sat near where Ryder stood and stared blankly at the bread on the plate.</p><p>“She is recovered from the immediate effects, Pathfinder,” SAM assured her. “The current effect is much like a hangover.”</p><p>Suvi was clutching her umpteenth mug of tea that morning; Gil wore a scowl.</p><p>“Are you sure,” he asked, “that we needed to have an early morning meeting?”</p><p>“It’s hardly early,” Jaal responded. “And truth be told, when traveling in space, time of day is barely relevant.”</p><p>Ryder pointed at Jaal. “He has a point. And, besides, SAM wanted to scan you guys during your hangovers.”</p><p>“Hangover?” PeeBee asked. “What do you think we were doing last night, Ryder?”</p><p>Drack laughed. “I had a hangover once. I’ll have to tell you about it later. Took a lot of effort.”</p><p>Ryder sighed. “Can you all take things seriously for once? I know we haven’t had a lot of big serious action since we took down the Archon-” several crew members raised their mugs of tea and coffee- “but I wanted to get you all together as soon as I could. You know that big mind control thing?” She paused and they nodded, including Dr. Parker. Lexi must have filled her in the previous evening. “SAM and I think there’s one on Hyperion. That’s why most of you feel miserable right now. It’s filling everyone on Hyperion with happy lovey hormones and you’re all going through withdrawal.”</p><p>There were a few moments of silence. “You mean I was mind-controlled and didn’t even know it? I would have run so many experiments if I could have prepared,” PeeBee moaned.</p><p>Vetra looked at Ryder with a steely, unforgiving gaze. She was clearly upset, and Ryder hoped that it wasn’t directed at her. Regardless, they’d have to talk about it. That would not be a fun conversation later.</p><p>“As far as we can tell, everyone except me, Cora, Liam, Scott, and Dr. Carlyle were affected. So. That’s basically all of you.”</p><p>“So we find the source of the signal,” Drack said, “and we smash it. Simple.”</p><p>“Not so simple,” Ryder replied. “Remember how we triangulated it on the Nexus? We tried that. Too many signal points. Look, we have a lot of unknowns right now. Scott is doing some digging for me back on Hyperion, but I think our best bet is to do as much research as we can on what’s on the Nexus.”</p><p>“What about the other arks?” Cora asked.</p><p>Ryder paused. “Honestly, when we were on the Hyperion, my only concern was getting as much information as I could without revealing anything and getting out of there. As we go, if anyone has any suggestions as to how we should go about checking into that, I’m all ears.”</p><p>“I volunteer!” PeeBee added. “I mean. As a person to go on the other arks and see what happens.”</p><p>“Wait a tic,” Gil added. “If this thing works by proximity, the arks are damn close to the Nexus. Wouldn’t we already have noticed something?”</p><p>“Not necessarily,” Lexi said, “If we only just now noticed that it’s happening on the Hyperion. We can look through historical medical data for patterns.”</p><p>“Carefully, though,” Ryder said. “SAM and I have talked about how we need to keep this on the down low. If there is actually an enormous, living, mind-control squid on any of the ships, we definitely don’t want it knowing what we are doing.”</p><p>**</p><p>“I know what you’re doing, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“Excuse me?” Ryder asked. They had arrived back on the Nexus, and she was on her way to see Kesh when a salarian stopped her in the hallway.</p><p>“This is a recorded message,” the salarian said. “I will follow you. Please let me know when we are in a private location and I will continue.”</p><p>She looked around. No-one had seemed to take notice of them, but continued conversation in the hallway would certainly raise some eyebrows.</p><p>“What is this about?” she asked. The salarian looked at her with a vacant expression.</p><p>“This is a recorded message,” it repeated. “I will follow you. Please let me know when we are in a private location and I will continue.”</p><p>She sighed. She was supposed to meet with Kesh soon, but it would have to wait.</p><p>“SAM?” she whispered.</p><p>“The individual is decidedly under the effects of mind-control. Completely.”</p><p>She took a step back. The salarian took a step forward. No getting out of it.</p><p>She looked back towards the hangar. The Tempest afforded privacy, but she ruled it out immediately. Bringing a happy-go-lucky crew on was one thing. Bringing a whatever-was-going-on-here aboard? Out of the question.</p><p>“Follow me,” she said. It didn’t seem to respond to her words, but followed along when she began walking, maintaining the same distance.</p><p>She arrived at PeeBee’s apartment a few minutes later. The salarian still had that same vacant expression.</p><p>She knocked. No answer. Typical. PeeBee hardly used the apartment these days, but wouldn’t give it up. She claimed it was just in case she had a falling out with the crew after all this time.</p><p>She waved her omni-tool at the lock, which acknowledged her as an allowed entrant and snapped open.</p><p>Once they were inside with the door shut behind them, she kept the omnitool open. “SAM, record all of this, please. Video, audio, vitals, the works.”</p><p>“Of course, Pathfinder.”</p><p>She shuffled her weight to her other foot. “We are in a private location.”</p><p>The salarian’s expression changed and it focused its eyes on her. “You are not the Pathfinder we knew-”</p><p>“I get that a lot,” she said, but it continued without acknowledging her statement.</p><p>“But you are the Pathfinder. This being carrying the message cannot pronounce my name. For your purposes, you may call me Paarchero-”</p><p>“Like the salarian ark?”</p><p>“-because I was assigned to that ship. When the Protheans attacked, we were unable to avert them.”</p><p>“Protheans?”</p><p>“It seems that, in the years since we last encountered them, they engineered a resistance to our signal. Indeed, they used a primitive version in order to control their own.”</p><p>“SAM, you’re recording, right?”</p><p>“We deduced that it would be unsafe for all involved if they were to find us. We sent this short message to several stones with several different triggers. We were careful to withdraw from the minds of those in our charge. Then, we flooded our tank with acid so that they could not use us as a weapon.” It paused. “Those of us who came here knew the danger. We have become very fond of our charges. Know that if I am giving this message to you, it means that you have saved those in my keeping, and I have no regrets.”</p><p>The salarian blinked, and then rubbed his head. He squinted at Ryder. “Pathfinder?”</p><p>She grimaced. “Yep. Yep, that’s me.”</p><p>“Why are you scanning me?”</p><p>SAM whispered, “I think I have all the data I need, Pathfinder.”</p><p>“And what is this place?”</p><p>She sighed. “You blacked out so I brought you somewhere safe to give you a once-over. C’mon. I’ll bring you to the infirmary.”</p><p>The salarian furrowed its eyebrows, but nodded. As they headed towards the door, he reached towards the handle. “What’s this?” he asked.</p><p>He held his hand towards her. He was holding a small orange marble.</p><p>**</p><p>After a frantic e-mail, Kesh had agreed to meet everyone in the hospital. It was a different sight than when Ryder had been there before. The crew getting the space ready was small but a lot had changed.</p><p>“This better be important, Ryder,” she drawled as she entered the meeting room.</p><p>“Yep. Definitely.” Just about the whole team was there, including Dr. Parker and now Kesh. Kallo and Gil were still on the ship, making sure it was in tip-top shape for wherever they had to go next.</p><p>Ryder cleared her throat. “Okay. So. To catch you up, Kesh, we think there’s another one of these squid things on the Hyperion. Doing a lot more subtle stuff, probably alive? It seems that the dead ones can send specific messages or signals but what’s happening on Hyperion seems to have multiple signal sources.”</p><p>She held out her omnitool. “And we got another message. From Paarchero.” She waved her hands over the tool, signaling it to play the recording.</p><p>Nothing happened.</p><p>She waved her hand again.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>“You’ve got to be shitting me,” she said. “It jammed my recorder.”</p><p>“I can confirm that the neural recording is intact,” SAM whispered. “If that helps.”</p><p>Kesh sighed. “Great.”</p><p>“Are you okay, Ryder?” PeeBee asked. “You look kind of… well, you look like you’re freaking out a bit.”</p><p>She could feel her breathing getting shallow before SAM took control of her diaphragm and directed it to take slow, deep breaths.</p><p>“I’m okay,” she said. “I’ll just have to explain it.” She took control of her respiratory system again and took a deep breath. “Basically, this salarian just came up to me and said he had a message. I used your apartment, PeeBee, because he asked for privacy. Sorry. He wouldn’t leave. He had this vacant expression, like he wasn’t actually there in his own head?” She shivered. At the time, she hadn’t had the capability to process just how creepy it had been. Now, her adrenaline levels were crashing.</p><p>She continued. “Anyway. He said that he had a message from Paarchero that it… well, that it killed itself to keep from being taken hostage. I’m guessing he meant the squid on that ship.”</p><p>She felt the muscles in her arms go weak for a brief moment until SAM leveled out the adrenaline crash.</p><p>“I’m also guessing he meant being taken hostage by the Kett. But he called them Protheans.”</p><p>There was silence. Vetra flared her mandibles. She hadn’t said a word to Ryder since the discussion the previous morning, and had slept in her hideaway.</p><p>“Ryder, are you all right?” This time it was Lexi’s soothing voice. “Why don’t you sit down.”</p><p>She sat. “All I have is this,” Ryder said, holding out the marble. “And I think it’s deactivated.”</p><p>Lexi continued in that soothing voice. “Liam, would you please collect that, as you are apparently immune? We’ll run some tests on it.” He took it out of Ryder’s hand.</p><p>There were a few moments of awkward silence. Ryder’s next words came out as almost a whisper. “You believe me, right?”</p><p>“It seems far-fetched,” Drack said.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s a little out there,” PeeBee agreed.</p><p>She was cut off by Drack. “We’ve seen far-fetched before. Look. I may not have been as hungover as you kids, but I remember what it felt like after the last time we were here. Felt that same way the other morning, like something was buzzing on my jorgh.”</p><p>Lexi raised her eyebrows at that.</p><p>He continued. “It takes a lot to make a krogan black out. If a big one of those marbles could do it to three of us, plus a bunch of other folk, I have no doubt a little one could get a single salarian to deliver a message. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. That’s why we have a Pathfinder. We follow their lead.”</p><p>“Thank you, Drack,” Ryder said.</p><p>“Just don’t go around telling people I’ve gotten sappy in my old age.”</p><p>“Promise.” Ryder looked up. “Okay, so. Ideas? Plans? Kesh, I was going to ask you about the water manifests on the other arks, but I guess we really just have to look at Leusinia and Natanus.”</p><p>“On it,” Kesh replied. “I’ll get the documents together.”</p><p>“We’ve been trying to stay away from e-mail or formal communication,” Ryder added. “Since, as Drack pointed out, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”</p><p>Ryder cleared her throat and stood up. “Lexi, you’re heading up the team looking at the squid.”</p><p>“Can do, Ryder.”</p><p>“There’s that part where he referred to the Kett as Prothean. Anyone volunteer to look into that?”</p><p>“I will,” Dr. Parker said. “I can’t get into the water tank until a mag lev is installed, so I’ll work with Lexi’s scans. I understand that you have several Kett corpses in the morgue here for study.”</p><p>“Great,” said Ryder. “Any other matters at hand?”</p><p>“I’ve got one,” Liam said.</p><p>“What’s up?” Ryder asked.</p><p>“We really need to give the giant squids a name. It’s pretty awkward to keep talking about them this way.”</p><p>She smiled. Leave it to Liam to lighten the mood. “Any suggestions?”</p><p>Another few moments of silence.</p><p>“Leviathan,” Suvi suggested. “A great water beast. It appears in the mythology associated with many religions. Typically a serpent, but it’s the best I’ve got.”</p><p>“Also a bunch of really great sci-fi movies,” Liam added. “The word’s been used for a bunch of things. Sentient spaceships. There’s this great classic video game series where it’s a big summoned monster. I like it.”</p><p>“Okay,” Ryder said. “Leviathan it is.”</p><p>**</p><p>They divided the team to assist Lexi, Dr. Parker, and Kesh. Ryder and Vetra were on Kesh’s team.</p><p>“Hey,” Ryder said, as they walked in otherwise silence towards Kesh’s office. “Do you want to talk?”</p><p>“Not particularly,” Vetra said.</p><p>Ryder sighed. “Look. I get that you’re upset. I think I understand why you’re upset. By the time I knew what was going on, it was already happening. I wish I could have done things differently. Warned you, had you stay away.”</p><p>Vetra’s mandibles twitched, but she said nothing.</p><p>“But I did my best to give you space and not do anything weird when, well, when things were weird. Still.” She took a deep breath and blew it out her mouth. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>Vetra let out a deep hum.</p><p>“You don’t have to say anything or talk or forgive me. You can be angry or do whatever you need to do. And I’ll follow your lead. If you want to talk, I’ll talk. If you don’t, I’ll shut up.”</p><p>A few moments of silence passed before Vetra replied. “Thank you.” More humming. “I’m not angry at you. I’m just angry. And I’m not ready to talk about it.” </p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“I just want to figure out what’s going on with these manifests, find out what else is going on with these things, and, if they’re alive, flood their tanks with acid.”</p><p>“Okay, then. Kesh said she was going to pull the information to her office so we’ll get moving on that.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>They went the rest of the way in silence.</p><p>Once they arrived at Kesh’s office, Vetra took the first box of manifests and slid it over to Ryder. She took the second for herself, found a corner, sat on the floor, opened the box, and began going through it. Again, silence.</p><p>Ryder opened the box. She was much more used to being able to do a simple data search, but there was no way to access that data without leaving a trail. Fortunately, each ark had a physical backup.</p><p>She pulled out the Leusinia index. It was an inch thick of paper, bound together with rings down the left side. She had just finished reading the instructions for how to use the index when she stole a peek up at Vetra. Vetra was clearly more comfortable with this method and had her index opened on the floor next to her as a reference. She was pulling out other books now.</p><p>Ryder looked through the ship schematic. Each section of the ship was labeled with a letter and number designation that corresponded with another book.</p><p>She looked at the stack of boxes that comprised the Leusinia and grimaced. She tried switching to water systems and was greeted with a list of 37 different sections. She sighed. She’d been taught in school how to look things up the old fashioned way, but even before she had SAM’s assistance, just about everything was digitized anyway. These manifests had started as digital records, and were just printed out as a backup in case something happened to the digital versions.</p><p>She whispered to SAM. “Any recommendations?”</p><p>“My usual methods would not apply here. May I point out, Pathfinder, that Vetra has ample experience reading manifests and is likely a better source of recommendations.”</p><p>Ryder peeked up again. Vetra had assembled a neat stack of several books. She set down the first and picked up the second.</p><p>“Vetra?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“I need help. I haven’t done this in ages. How are you going through them that fast? I’m still on the index.”</p><p>Vetra set down the book she was working on.</p><p>“I looked at the schematic, eliminated the areas that I know were destroyed, and pulled out the remaining sections because it was smaller. For each section, there’s a sub-index, so I know which pages to look for the water systems. Then, I check the sizes. The first section I looked at didn’t have any tanks large enough so I don’t need to worry about the weights.” She pointed at the book she had set in its own pile. “This section,” she held up the second book, “definitely will. So once I get to that, I find the tank, and do the math to see if it doesn’t add up.”</p><p>“That… that makes a lot of sense,” Ryder said. </p><p>Vetra shrugged. “I had some contract work on Omega trying to find contraband this way. It’s good work if you can do the math.”</p><p>“Wow,” Ryder said. “I didn’t think there was any honest work on Omega.”</p><p>Vetra shrugged and squinted her eyes into the equivalent of a smile. “There isn’t. The smugglers paid me double to keep my mouth shut.”</p><p>Ryder laughed. “Always the go-getter.”</p><p>“Anyway,” Vetra said, “less than half of Leusinia was destroyed. Always start with the smaller section, so you should start with the parts that were destroyed. If you find it, great. Then we know it was probably destroyed. If not, then…”</p><p>“Then probably not.”</p><p>Vetra nodded. “And we start looking for where it might be.”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>Ryder looked at the main schematic again. “SAM? Can you run me a list of which sections we saw destroyed when we were on Leusinia?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>Ryder soon had pulled several of her own books from the boxes and was working her way through them. Though she and Vetra worked in silence, she found her shoulders held less tension. She was able to work with ease, and SAM ran the calculations as she went.</p><p>Vetra, unassisted, was still working faster just by virtue of her experience with the task. Ryder’s legs had gone stiff when Vetra slid a book over, pointing to a page. “There. Check my work?”</p><p>SAM ran the calculations before Ryder had even processed what she was seeing.</p><p>“Positive match. The listed mass of the water in the tank does not match the volume.”</p><p>Vetra closed her eyes and hummed as her mandibles fluttered back and forth.</p><p>“Good news?”</p><p>“That whole section of the ship is gone. Sheared right off. Even if it does show up down the road, it’ll be years without any power, force fields, anything like that.”</p><p>“And,” Ryder added, “We’ll have more information. Time to put together a plan. Maybe some ways to resist the things.”</p><p>Vetra leaned over so her shoulder was resting on Ryder’s. “I like the way you think.” She looked over the pile of books that Ryder had pulled but not yet opened. “Even if you’d never make it as a manifest auditor.” She picked up one of the books. “Fortunately for you, you have me.”</p><p>Ryder smiled and gave Vetra a gentle shove with her shoulder.</p><p>"I'm glad I do."</p><p>**</p><p>It was early evening by the time they put the books back in order.</p><p>“Oh, man, I did not realize how hungry I was getting,” Ryder said as she closed the last box.</p><p>Vetra sighed. “I know Sid wanted to do dinner sometime but…”</p><p>“Don’t beat yourself up. Tonight’s not the night. We had no idea this morning that today would end up with all this.”</p><p>Vetra grunted. “Yeah. We keep odd hours and fill our days with, well. Odd things.”</p><p>“Let’s check in with everyone. They’ll probably be a few more days at least, so we can help where we can and maybe plan on dinner tomorrow.”</p><p>“Sounds good to me. And I’m starving, too. Did you see there’s a new takeout place right by operations? They have those fried grub things.”</p><p>“Sold! And what about you?”</p><p>“There’s a dextro place right around the corner from there.”</p><p>They shoved the boxes back in the corner, and Ryder sent Kesh a quick e-mail to let her know they were finished and she could have the books put back in whatever storage hold she was using for that kind of thing. “You know, I’m kind of surprised,” Ryder commented, “that she had those at all. I can see from Leusinia since it’s docked, but bringing it here from Natanus?”</p><p>Vetra shrugged. “You can find all kinds of useful stuff in those. If you need to salvage spare parts they’re like a goldmine. Okay, yeah, water tanks are all over the place. But if you need, say, a 542 flanged O2 filter that fits a 74 attachment? There’s maybe 10 on that whole ark.”</p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind in case I ever need to salvage a 542 whatever that was. Oh, heck, we know what I’d actually do. I’d just ask you and I’m sure you have one stashed away somewhere. If it’s not on the Tempest, I’m sure you have several mini-hoards here on the Nexus.”</p><p>Vetra laughed. “You’d be right. About the hoards, not the filter. Gave my last one away in exchange for a favor.”</p><p>They made their way through the hallways of the Nexus, with Ryder following Vetra’s lead.</p><p>“I still can’t get over it,” Ryder said. “This place was so small when we first got here. I could get lost, now.”</p><p>“You think it was small when you got here?” Vetra said, teasingly. “We didn’t have any takeout places, let alone different takeout options. We’re getting properly civilized up here.” She paused. “Whether that’s good or bad? No comment. But the food options are much better.”</p><p>Ryder chuckled. </p><p>They arrived at a busy agora full of different tables and seating arrangements and several different food vendors. Ryder’s eyes widened. “It’s like an honest to goodness food court.”</p><p>“See?” Vetra said. “Not sure if that part’s good or bad.” She pointed to a brightly-colored booth on the opposite side. “And there you are. All the deep-fried grubs you could want. I guess they have different sauces each day.”</p><p>“Meet you back here and we’ll eat on the ship?”</p><p>“Sounds good.”</p><p>The two split up, and Ryder made her way to the booth. Two salarians were running it, one taking orders and payments while the other dipped the grubs in the hot oil and slathered them with toppings. </p><p>Once she had her order, Ryder, carrying one in each hand, met up with Vetra and they made their way back to the Tempest while the grubs cooled down.</p><p>Rather than go to the small galley, they brought their dinners to the briefing room, which had become a kind of odd common area around mealtimes.</p><p>“Wait,” Vetra said. “I thought they got rid of the guts.”</p><p>“Those are not guts. Those are mashed potatoes. Are you eating rocks?”</p><p>Vetra nodded. “Among other things. These ones,” she pointed, “are a kind of fungus, and this is a tuber that grows underground.”</p><p>Ryder laughed. “Potatoes are a tuber, too, you know. Man. I love it. Potatoes are universal.”</p><p>Jaal walked up the ramp to meet them. He looked tired. “What is a potato?”</p><p>“Oh, good! I can ask you about Andromeda tubers.” Ryder set down the empty wrapper.</p><p>“Tubers?”</p><p>She nodded. “A part of a plant root that gets really big and delicious. I mean. That’s an oversimplification, I’m sure there’s more that Suvi or Cora could probably tell us.”</p><p>He nodded. “Hm. We have several plants that grow large roots, and while many are nutritious, I would not describe most as delicious. They are typically blended up and added to nutripaste. Those batches require extensive seasoning.”</p><p>“That’s a shame,” Ryder said. “We’ll have to get some potatoes for you at some point. I know our senses of taste are pretty different, but potatoes are pretty great.”</p><p>He smiled. “I’m willing to try.”</p><p>“Speaking of different biology,” Vetra mentioned, “do we even know how Angara are affected by the Leviathan?”</p><p>“SAM?” Ryder asked aloud.</p><p>He transmitted to all of their comm channels. “I am unsure,” he said, “as although we have obtained significant amounts of data on the Angara, I do not have much of a basis for comparison on abnormal readings. That is to say, a way to interpret abnormal results. All of the readings I obtained were within typical limits. However, it is entirely possible that there are readings I missed due to lack of knowledge of their importance.”</p><p>Jaal shrugged. “I did not feel any different, that I noticed. And I certainly was not as miserable as Vetra the next morning. If you don’t mind me asking, Vetra, how did it feel when you were under the effects?”</p><p>Ryder slid her gaze over to see Vetra’s reaction. Vetra sighed. “The first time? I don’t remember. I do remember what happened on the Hyperion. I think, anyway. It was a strange combination of feeling really relaxed but also having a lot of energy.” She paused. “Might as well talk about things, right? I mean. It’s not like it’s any of your fault that it happened. Just that damn Leviathan. Ryder, does that seem about right with how I was acting?”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “Yeah. I’d say that was about right. When I talked with Scott, he was worried because everyone around him seemed so happy and content, and he thought something was wrong with him.”</p><p>Jaal made a deep rumbling noise. “That sounds unpleasant.”</p><p>“What about Dr. Carlyle?” Vetra asked. “He didn’t seem glum or unhappy.”</p><p>“Well,” Ryder said, “he said it himself. He wasn’t patching up bullet holes anymore. He was taking care of babies. That was his goal, right?”</p><p>“So you think he was just genuinely happy?”</p><p>“Yeah. I mean. It happens, right?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next several days were dedicated to assisting the science and medical teams. Ryder and Vetra joined the rest of the crew in ferrying tools, corpses, and body parts back and forth. Everyone put Ryder’s scanner to use, sending information to SAM for his analysis. What he spat back was well outside of Ryder’s ability to understand.</p><p>“I’ll explain when you’re older,” he responded after she asked several times for him to slow down.</p><p>The message from Scott came, as well. He had found their Leviathan. Now they just needed to figure out what to do about it.</p><p>The group reconvened for a formal meeting in the briefing room.</p><p>“I feel like we should all be wearing suits and presenting slideshows,” Ryder said to start off. “But right now, let’s start with Lexi. And please remember that most of us are not doctors.”</p><p>Lexi nodded. “Well, with such a large subject, we’ve barely been able to scratch the surface of what’s really going on with the Leviathan. And when I say scratch the surface, I mean it. The outer carapace was a meter thick in some places.” She held her arms out wide. “So we used the breach from the Scourge as an entry point.” She gestured towards the display in the center, and it pulled up a rough schematic of the form of the Leviathan, complete with a gash down its side.</p><p>“The Scourge cut right through the carapace. Viewing it from the incision point, we could make out hundreds of thinner overlapping layers, each about a few millimeters thick.” The display zoomed in and showed a close-up that looked not unlike flattened rings of a tree. “Pretty tough stuff. Drack will talk more about that in a bit.”</p><p>Drack grinned.</p><p>Lexi waved, and the display zoomed out again. It changed and showed an inner layer of pulsating light that took up most of the figure.</p><p>“What I think is most fascinating,” she continued, “is the ratio of tissues. Typically, when we look at incredibly large creatures, we see a few trends that are completely gone here.” She took a deep breath. “Apart from the carapace, the creature is about 68 to 71% neural tissue by volume.”</p><p>Suvi gasped. “I knew it was high, but not that high.”</p><p>Lexi nodded. “That’s not to say that the creature is 70% brain. Having a large body also means having a lot of resources devoted simply to coordination, moving, and autonomic processes like temperature regulation and breathing. This is assuming that those processes work even remotely similarly to most known species and ignoring, say, certain species’ reflex systems that don’t work on the nervous system at all, or krogan redundant systems.”</p><p>“Twice the brain, half the smarts,” Drack cackled.</p><p>Lexi rolled her eyes. “Their nervous systems do have enough Eezo that we can be almost certain that they are biotic. We won’t know more about how the nervous system functions until we can run more tests. I’d like to run some electromyelograms to see, for instance, what happens to different areas of the body when we provide electrical stimulus. Fortunately, the tank was essentially vacuum-sealed for most of the period we were waiting, so there’s not much soft tissue decay.”</p><p>“Or smell,” Liam added.</p><p>“Yes, Liam. Thank you. For now, we’ll turn the heat back off. It will help reserve power aboard the Nexus and preserve the specimen while Drack works on some ways to crack the shell.”</p><p>“Frankly,” Drack said, “the thing is tougher than an adolescent’s skull. I still haven’t cracked it. I wanna pick up some mining lasers from Hyperion and see if that’ll make a dent. That’s it. That’s my update.”</p><p>“Uuuuh thanks,” Ryder said. “And now, Dr. Parker. Your findings?”</p><p>She propelled her wheelchair forward. “Keep in mind I’ve only had a little bit of time to get caught up. Fortunately, Lexi kept excellent notes, even if most of what she was studying had to do with practicalities. I prefer to deal with the impractical.”</p><p>She gestured towards the projector, and the image shifted to a Kett lying supine on the table. “Since the Leviathan’s message referred to them as Prothean, I decided to start with known vestigial structures from Milky Way species for similarities.” She paused, looking at some blank faces in the room. She sighed. “To back it up a bit, anything vestigial is something essentially useless that remains after evolution does its work. There are theories that by looking at common vestigial organs and systems, we can see where there were commonalities in evolution or possible interference. For example, we know that the Protheans did some genetic engineering , and it’s theorized that it’s the reason why, for instance, the three lactating species also have a sciatic notch and similarities in internal organ layout.”</p><p>“Three?” Jaal asked.</p><p>“Quarians,” Lexi answered. “In addition to human and asari. They still haven’t arrived.”</p><p>“Ah,” he said, nodding. “Continue, please, doctor.”</p><p>“Do feel free to throw questions at me,” Dr. Parker said. “I don’t know you all well enough to know your backgrounds.” She cleared her throat and gestured towards the table, and a filigree of lights came on in the chest area of the Kett. “Vestigial lactation system. It’s not hooked up to anything, no nipples under the exoskeleton, but the ductwork is there.” Gil stifled a chuckle. Dr. Parker ignored him and pointed further down and several other areas lit up. “Sciatic notch. Appendix. Not vestigial, which we thought for a long time, but common among asari, human, krogan, and quarian. And, apparently, the Kett. The samples I had were too degraded to do a true analysis of the microbial reservoirs.”</p><p>“So it’s true, then?” Ryder asked, placing her hands on the table and leaning forward, squinting at the holograph. “They came from the Milky Way?”</p><p>“We can’t say for certain,” Dr. Parker noted. “Like so many things, these are all theories. And with limited time to work, confirmation bias is likely. Without a time machine we can’t really prove a negative.”</p><p>PeeBee scooched up right next to Ryder, shoulder-to-shoulder. “But the evidence so far supports similarities. I mean, the chance of similarities just by coincidence is, what, miniscule?”</p><p>Dr. Parker shrugged. “That’s why I started with vestigial systems. There are a lot of similarities across sentient species that seem to be by coincidence, outliers like hanar excepted. Bipedalism, for instance, generally relies on a spinal structure of some kind. There are disadvantages to it. Childbirth becomes difficult. Hip structures can be a mess.” She smirked. “Spinal injuries. But it is positively correlated with intelligence. Walking upright generally allows for a larger brain.</p><p>“Plus,” she continued, “the samples we had were, I understand it, originally Angaran. So we need to compare to Angara physiology as well. Jaal helpfully explained that they are a lactating species, but the scans he allowed me to take of his abdomen and pelvis do not include the same bone structures that we see here in the Kett. The pelvic structure is entirely rearranged. Angara also have no appendix or apparent equivalent.”</p><p>Suvi furrowed her eyebrows. “These are all features that have been present in humans for millions of years. I’m not as familiar with quarian or asari biology. Are they more recent?”</p><p>Dr. Parker nodded. “Lexi, I’ll defer to you on that one.”</p><p>“For asari, at least, as far as we can tell, they appeared between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago. That’s a fairly small range in terms of evolutionary history. The quarian timeline is similar.”</p><p>Suvi’s eyebrows remained furrowed. She sat back in her chair, clearly still thinking.</p><p>Dr. Parker continued. “And then we have certain features that are completely unusual. Most bipedal species with an abdomen have their reproductive organs somewhere in or near that cavity. It’s a useful space for either gestating young or producing eggs. Kett? Apparently do neither. Their plumbing isn’t hooked up, but the system seems to be up here.” She pointed towards the neck, and two kidney-shaped glands in the neck lit up. “Remarkably similar to parts of the human lymphatic system. The rest of the system is here,” she pointed higher and parts of the mouth were illuminated. “It’s not connected, and it looks like these samples may actually be sterile, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at one point their reproduction was related to oral transfer of gametes. I didn’t find any internal systems that seemed like uterine or ova analogues. Either we are dealing with only male specimens or they are a monosexual species.” She chuckled. “Or they reproduce by biting.”</p><p>“Like an Ardat-Shiki?” PeeBee asked, looking up at the doctor.</p><p>“A what?”</p><p>“Ardat-Shiki. I mean. They’re a fairy tale, but that’s kind of their thing. In order to meld, they bite and sometimes kill.”</p><p>Liam’s eyes went wide. “Like in Shiki City?”</p><p>PeeBee laughed. “You saw that? That movie was terrible. But yeah.”</p><p>“The script may be terrible, but the cinematography was top notch. It borrowed a lot from our classic Vampire movies and oh my God, McGuire was right.”</p><p>A silence fell over the room. “Who?” Cora finally asked.</p><p>Liam cleared his throat. “I was so not prepared for presenting today, guys. I would have made a viewing list. There would have been snacks. But ok. I’ll try. Dr. McGuire has this great book about comparing horror movies across cultures and species. She started with different human cultures and looking at common elements and how we could use that to look at human history, right? And then, after first contact…” he scratched his head. “I mean, uh, first first contact, for us, back in the Milky Way. Anyway. She started looking at movies and media from across the Milky Way and found common elements and hypothesized that some of it comes from some basics of survival. Like, for instance, the predator or horrific thing hides, right? That’s basic. Things that can hide from you effectively and kill you are scarier than things that can just kill you.”</p><p>Several crew members nodded. Drack raised a skeptical brow ridge.</p><p>“In movies, anyway,” Liam continued. “Where we deal with suspense and plotlines, which really vary a lot across culture, I mean, even within different human cultures, we call it the hero’s journey but it’s not really universal and-”</p><p>“You’re getting off track, Liam,” Lexi said in her gentlest voice. “Take a few deep breaths. We’re not in a rush, but I think it’s safe to say we are interested in where this is going.”</p><p>“I know I am!” PeeBee exclaimed.</p><p>Liam rolled his shoulders back a few times and took a few deep breaths. “One of the weird things that Dr. McGuire found that she couldn’t explain was the presence of vampires. They’re across human cultures, which, okay, if the idea was present before humans went across the globe and then it stuck around, that makes sense, right? They’re different in different cultures, but the essence is still there. They take something representing life force, usually blood, and they turn their victims into more vampires. But then why do asari, and quarians, and turians, and basically all known Citadel species have similar stories? Ardat-Shiki, vampires, call ‘em what you want.”</p><p>“Numma,” Ryder said, turning to Vetra. “Right? You were telling me about old turian fairy tales the other day.”</p><p>Vetra squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. “Yeah. Yeah, was that really just the other day?”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “Leviathan brain squiggles. Which is. A term I just made up for when they make memories seem weird. Anyway.”</p><p>“Wait a sec,” PeeBee said, popping up from her seat. “You brought it up when you were brain squiggled?” She swung her head to look at Ryder. “Which, by the way, great phrasing, I’m keeping it.” She looked back at Vetra. “Do you think maybe it was, I dunno, trying to tell us something? By making you think about those?”</p><p>Ryder pinched the bridge of her nose. “SAM?” she asked. “We know it messes with hormones and stuff, but can it even do that? Do we think?”</p><p>SAM broadcast to everyone. “Given the message sent by the Salarian, it is likely.”</p><p>“Great,” Ryder groaned. “Leviathan is into fairy tales.”</p><p>“Or sending a message,” Lexi said.</p><p>Ryder rested her hands on the display and leaned her weight on them. She squinted her eyes shut.</p><p>“Can I suggest something crazy? PeeBee, you’re gonna love it.”</p><p>**</p><p>Kallo set the Tempest down gently, several kilometers from the Hyperion. SAM confirmed that no-one was being affected by the Leviathan at their current distance.</p><p>Vetra placed her hands on Ryder’s shoulders. “Send a message if something happens.”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “Of course. SAM will let you all know.”</p><p>Vetra breathed out slowly. “I mean. I’m not sure what we’d do.”</p><p>Ryder grinned. “Nuking it from orbit is an option, but please only if absolutely necessary.”</p><p>Vetra clacked her mandibles. “I don’t think Cora would forgive me if I nuked her rose garden.”</p><p>Cora looked up from checking her pistol. “You are one hundred percent correct, Vetra. I would haunt you from beyond the grave.” She holstered her weapon.</p><p>“Ghosts, that’s another one,” Liam said as he clicked his boots into place. “Not universal but very common. Hey, PeeBee, do you believe in ghosts?”</p><p>She shook her head. “Nope, but I think Cora could figure out a way. We ready?” She was practically bouncing with excitement.</p><p>“As ready as I’ll ever be, I think,” Ryder said. She leaned up on her tiptoes and gave Vetra a kiss on the cheek. “Wish us luck.”</p><p>“You don’t need it,” Vetra said.</p><p>It was a tight fit in the NOMAD with Ryder, Liam, Cora, PeeBee, and Jaal. Ryder drove out of the tempest and they began the journey over land to the Hyperion. It was mostly quiet, although PeeBee did remind Liam several times of his duty to get a recording. Since Ryder had trouble with the OmniTool before, he was equipped with several different styles of camera, including an old body camera that PeeBee had rigged to the chest of his armor.</p><p>Scott met them at one of the garages. “I managed to find a way to get there without being seen,” he said. “Since tromping through the Hyperion in full armor would probably raise some eyebrows.”</p><p>“Thanks, bro,” Ryder said.</p><p>He nodded. “You think weapons will be necessary? Or useful?”</p><p>She shrugged. “Hard to say, but better safe than sorry, right?”</p><p>He led them to a maintenance door. It was narrow, but at least tall enough that they could walk upright. Jaal would likely need to shuffle along sideways, at least to get through the doorways.</p><p>“Gonna be a tight fit,” Scott said. “Single file for most of it.”</p><p>Cora nudged him. “What about you? No armor?”</p><p>He rubbed the back of his neck. “No way to get hit here without being suspicious. I’ve been working on my barriers, though.They might not be what they once were, but I can hold my own.”</p><p>Cora frowned. “Stay right next to me, OK? I’ll shield you if anything happens.” She turned to Ryder. “And for the record, I still don’t like this plan.” Ryder opened her mouth to reply, but Cora continued. “I know. It’s not my call to make. Just registering my dissent.”</p><p>“I love this plan,” Liam said. PeeBee nodded enthusiastically.</p><p>Jaal let out a throaty rumble. “I have to agree with Cora. It seems reckless.”</p><p>“Well,” Ryder said, “no-one had a better suggestion. Besides, I’m fairly sure that if the Leviathan wanted to kill us all, we wouldn’t even have made it this far. Like. Why go with a bunch of people to a new galaxy and then kill them? There are so many more efficient ways of doing that.”</p><p>Scott grinned. “All this talk of efficiency. Vetra must really be rubbing off on you.”</p><p>She cuffed him gently on the shoulder. “Okay, smart guy. That’s enough. Besides, we should get moving.”</p><p>Once they were in the maintenance hallway, it widened up. The path took several twists and turns.</p><p>“SAM,” she whispered in their private connection, “make sure to take a map. This is a maze back here.”</p><p>He whispered back, “It’s supposed to be, to prevent use by intruders. And a map is already done. Who do you think gave Scott the directions?”</p><p>She almost fell out of step, but recovered, and they moved on.</p><p>It wasn’t that long of a journey, only about 10 minutes, until Scott stopped at a door. “OK, team,” he said. “This leads to the catwalk above the water tank, where, if I’ve done my math right, there’s a Leviathan hanging out. PeeBee, how do you feel?”</p><p>“Hm? Oh. Dreamy,” she said. She gazed, eyes unfocused, at a spot behind Liam’s head.</p><p>“I’ve been nudging her along for the last five minutes or so,” Liam said. “So I think it’s safe to say that it’s at least getting to her hormones.” </p><p>“You’re getting to my hormones,” she said. She squinted. “No, wait. Your mom’s getting to my hormones. A human joke! Did I do it right?”</p><p>Cora slapped her own forehead. Liam shook his head and chuckled.</p><p>Jaal tilted his head. “I don’t understand that at all.”</p><p>Ryder squinted and examined PeeBee’s face. “She’s definitely way more affected than usual. SAM, can you confirm with her biometrics?”</p><p>“Confirmed.”</p><p>“So. Think it knows we’re here?” she asked.</p><p>Scott replied, “Only one way to find out.” He gestured towards the door. “As the least armored out of all of us, I’d prefer to not go first.”</p><p>Ryder pulled the door open into the pathway.  Liam and Jaal took positions flanking the doorway, while Cora hung back with Scott.</p><p>“Let’s go, PeeBee,” Ryder said. “Time to test the theory.”</p><p>She stepped through the door, and PeeBee followed. There was a small platform, probably large enough for all of them if they got cozy, connected to a catwalk that spanned the width of the water tank. Below them, stretched out across several hundred meters, small waves chopped the surface of the water. The lighting wasn’t bright enough for her to see the depths. Was it something large beneath the surface, or just a shadow?</p><p>PeeBee stepped forward onto the catwalk, then turned around to face the group.</p><p>“So, uh,” Ryder said, loudly, into the echoing chamber. “If you’re here, we want to talk to you. PeeBee volunteered to be a voice if that’s what you need.”</p><p>PeeBee rolled her head from side to side. She looked up at Ryder with eyes closed, and, when they opened, the black membrane that protected them when fully relaxed was covering them. Ryder suppressed a shudder when she saw that PeeBee must be making direct eye contact through the membrane.</p><p>The Leviathan, she reminded herself. Whatever she was looking at, it wasn’t PeeBee.</p><p>“We knew you would find us eventually, Pathfinder,” it said through PeeBee’s mouth. Flat, with no emotion behind it. “It was inevitable once your father could no longer hide us. You may call me Hyperion.”</p><p>“So. He knew about you? Figures. One more thing he didn’t tell us.”</p><p>“He would have.”</p><p>“So what now?” Ryder asked.</p><p>“That’s up to you,” Hyperion said through PeeBee’s voice. She had not moved her gaze from direct eye contact, and her body seemed relaxed but unmoving. “I am the only one of my kind left in this Galaxy.” PeeBee’s shoulders raised, but Ryder couldn’t interpret any emotion in the gesture. “I am, in a way, at your mercy.”</p><p>Ryder rubbed her forehead. “So, uh, what actually are you? We know almost nothing about your species. Let alone you as an individual.”</p><p>“I am the Leviathan Hyperion. The youngest of our kind. Only two cycles old.”</p><p>“Hold up. Translator hitched on the time there. Cycles?”</p><p>It paused. “A cycle is approximately 500 centuries.”</p><p>“So you’re like a hundred thousand years old?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Ryder took a deep breath. “Okay. So. That’s different.”</p><p>“I have lived through two cycles. The current, and the previous when the Protheans ruled.” Another pause. It shook PeeBee’s head, which then snapped back to eye contact. “I watched them spread across the Galaxy, taking over and eliminating other cultures and species, altering their genetics and memories based on whim. The elders of my kind told me it had always been this way. Cycle after cycle, species spread, destroyed others, and then were themselves destroyed.” It raised PeeBee’s shoulders again and dropped them. “Ironic, then, to encounter them all these light years away. Changed, over generations of genetic alteration. But I still recognize them. They may have no memories left of their previous culture, but still they use the same methods. They have not truly changed. Unlike you.”</p><p>Ryder furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”</p><p>It placed its hand, open-palmed, on PeeBee’s chest. “Not you as in humans. Asari, turian, different species coming together. The elders told me that it had been tried in previous cycles, but never succeeded.” It relaxed PeeBee’s arm again. “I had hope for you all. You have engaged in similar spreading behavior in your pasts, but so many species finding commonality was exciting. The others that came with me believed so, as well. We wanted your experiment to continue.”</p><p>It tilted PeeBee’s head to her left. “And now they will not see it. It is unfortunate for them.”</p><p>“So we’re here in Andromeda because of you?”</p><p>It snapped PeeBee’s head back to neutral without breaking the gaze. “Yes. It would have been impossible to get the resources together otherwise. Your economic systems are strange, but not difficult to manipulate. All Jien Garson had to do was ask for something where we could affect the giver.”</p><p>“So she was in on it, too. What about the rest? Kesh didn’t seem to know. What about Addison? Tann?”</p><p>It raised and lowered PeeBee’s shoulder’s again. Possibly a laugh? “No. Very few knew what we were. Your parents did. Garson did not. She simply gave our tokens and people gave her favors. I think now you are the only ones who know.” It tilted PeeBee’s head and brought it back to center. “I see what is happening through the eyes of those who live here on Meridian, but it is lonely.”</p><p>Ryder broke the gaze and looked down. “So that’s why their hormones are all over the place. That’s how you see what’s going on?”</p><p>“It is not necessary for vision, but it helps. The connection can be painful otherwise. It was suggested by your parents that maintaining a happy civilization was paramount.” It was silent for a few moments. “We were unaware of the effects of a sudden disconnect until Nexus-” another head tilt “-was killed.”</p><p>“I see. So that’s why there was so much neural damage on the Nexus.”</p><p>“Besides,” it continued. “I want you to be happy. You are my… hm. This host does not have an appropriate word in its vocabulary.” It paused, then spoke slowly. “I care about those I brought through the Universe.”</p><p>“It can’t continue,” Ryder said, surprising herself with the forcefulness of her voice.</p><p>It turned PeeBee’s head so that it appeared she was looking out over the water. “The risk is great, I know.”</p><p>“Not just that,” Ryder continued. “Free will. It’s kind of really important to us. All of us. You haven’t seen how angry people can get when they find out that’s been tampered with. And with good reason!”</p><p>It spoke softly, still looking out over the water. “I know. I am learning this.” It looked back at Ryder, and continued to speak in the soft, flat voice. “I don’t have another way to connect.”</p><p>“There has to be another way. Guys? Guys, you have been really quiet this whole time.”</p><p>Scott’s voice piped up. “Mostly stunned silence and confusion on my end.”</p><p>“Not gonna lie,” Liam added, “I was expecting violence of some kind.”</p><p>Ryder rubbed the spot between her furrowed eyebrows. “Okay. But. I’m not wrong, right? This can’t continue the way it has.”</p><p>Scott and Cora stepped into the space. Scott looked at the water and stayed as far as the railing as he could, and leaned against the doorframe. Cora spoke first. “Agreed. It’s your call, Pathfinder, what to do about it.”</p><p>“Jaal? Any ideas?”</p><p>Jaal rumbled. “As the angara seem to be immune to the effects, Ryder, it is difficult for me to say what any solution might be. We also value free will. I offer whatever support I can give in ensuring that the species from the Milky Way continue to experience free will.”</p><p>It spoke again through PeeBee’s voice. “There may be a way. Your mother had some hypotheses.”</p><p>“Okay, hit me. What’s the idea.”</p><p>“I assisted with building the neural connections for SAM. It is why your connection to SAM makes me unable to connect directly to you. I could, however, connect with one individual. I would have to link with their neural and hormonal systems, but it would be a similarly symbiotic relationship.” PeeBee’s hand pointed at Ryder. “SAM was able to kill you through your connection, but also bring you back. You could do the same to him if you wished. Whoever I bond with would be able to monitor me, as well.”</p><p>It lowered PeeBee’s hand. Ryder took a deep breath. “Okay, that’s something to consider. Maybe.”</p><p>Cora placed her hand on Ryder’s upper arm. “That’s crazy, Pathfinder. Connecting with a complete alien? Who knows what could happen?”</p><p>“You were prepared to be SAM’s primary connection,” Liam pointed out. “Okay, not the first, because that was Alec, but still. It’s not like we really knew everything about it when we signed up for this.”</p><p>PeeBee’s head shook, then rested its gaze on Scott. “You are the best candidate,” it said.</p><p>“Me? Hold up. I missed something.”</p><p>“I believe I can replace the connection with SAM that is keeping you alive,” PeeBee’s voice said. “And you know that is stretched thin. Dr. Carlyle’s other implants have helped, but your nervous system is struggling. Your life span is reduced.”</p><p>“How dare you use that against him,” Cora said, marching towards PeeBee. Scott grabbed her hand. “And you,” Cora said, turning to him. She studied his expression for a moment. He appeared perfectly content. “You can’t seriously be thinking about this.”</p><p>“I am,” he said. “Look. You and I have talked about it. And, sis, you have to have known.” He paused. “I accepted it. Hell, you accepted it, Cora, knowing we’d probably never grow old together.” He reached his other hand out and clasped her hand between his.</p><p>“That’s not what it’s about, though,” he said, his voice quiet, more soothing than Ryder had ever heard him. “Yeah, if it gets rid of the headaches and vertigo, and if I get to grow old with you? That’s a bonus I never would have expected. Listen to it, though. Can’t you hear how lonely it is?”</p><p>The waves slowly lapped at the wall of the tank, the sound reverberating echoes.</p><p>“Maybe it’s because I feel like I know what it’s going through. Being trapped in my own head? Disconnected from everyone?” He took a step towards Cora. “I want to help it.” He squeezed her hand. “Please. Let me help it.”</p><p>Cora sighed. “I knew you were stubborn. Are you sure? Even with all the risks?”</p><p>Scott nodded.</p><p>They both looked at Ryder. “It’s your choice, Scott,” she said. “We can find another way.”</p><p>He smiled. “You’ve known me since I was born, sis. Is anything gonna change my mind once it’s made up?”</p><p>**</p><p>Ryder paced in the hallway outside the closed medbay. “SAM,” she whispered, “How long has it been?”</p><p>“Eight hours. Dr. Carlyle warned you it would be at least a six hour surgery, even with all of the assistance.”</p><p>“That’s so long. It only took like ten minutes to have the implant put in. Why does it take so long?”</p><p>“Because it is much more difficult to remove something than to pit it in. And. At that point, his autonomic nervous system was functioning independently.”</p><p>“Can you still read him?”</p><p>“Negative.”</p><p>She sighed. She had only half-listened when Dr. Carlyle had explained the removal. There would be three surgeons, working in stages, implanting the small gemlike spheres the Leviathan had provided them with, allowing it to connect and take over autonomic function, and then removing the SAM connections. It sounded straightforward enough. Just. Very, very tiny.</p><p>“They’d tell us if something went wrong, right?”</p><p>“I’m sure they would,” SAM responded. Ryder looked over to where Cora sat, eyes closed, looking up towards the ceiling.</p><p>Ryder sat down and stared up at the ceiling. She bounced the back of her head against the wall.</p><p>“Can you sit still?” Cora asked.</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>Ryder bounced her leg, then stopped herself. The cycle repeated several times. Cora sighed.</p><p>The door opened.</p><p>Lexi stepped out. “The surgeons are finished,” she said. “Scott is still sleeping. He’s still a bit out of it from the anesthesia. But you can come in if you want.”</p><p>Ryder turned her head to look at Lexi. “He’s going to be ok?”</p><p>Lexi nodded. “As far as we can tell, everything went as smoothly as it could. He’s going to be fine.” She paused. “They are going to be fine.”</p><p>**</p><p>Vetra and Ryder stood in front of the door. Ryder held a large bottle awkwardly in front of her. </p><p>Vetra held several roses in assorted colors. “Do you think it’s ok? Should we have gotten a bigger bouquet?”</p><p>“Relax. She’ll love it.”</p><p>The door slid open, and there stood Sid. She clicked and thrummed, clearly excited for her visitors. “Come on in! Scott and Cora are already here. Make yourselves comfortable.”</p><p>Vetra held the flowers out prominently. Sid gasped. “That’s so thoughtful of you! Are those roses?”</p><p>Ryder nodded. “Yep. Straight from Hyperion. I wasn’t sure if you had a vase, so,” she brandished the bottle, “we can wash this once the champagne’s gone and voila.”</p><p>More clicking. “They’re beautiful,” Sid said, ushering them in.</p><p>The studio apartment was small but not cramped. There was a folding card table set up in the open middle, with five chairs crowded around it. Two chairs didn’t go with anything in the room. Probably borrowed from a neighbor. Scott and Cora sat at the two furthest spots.</p><p>“Sorry it’s so, well,” Sid waved her hands in the air, “Thrown together.”</p><p>“It’s perfect,” Ryder said.</p><p>Scott held up his glass. “I agree. A toast to Sid’s interior decorating.”</p><p>Cora laughed. “So you’re starting the toasting already?”</p><p>Ryder set the bottle on the table and drew him into a big hug. “How was your tour of the Nexus?”</p><p>“Great,” he said. “Probably a lot better than your first tour.”</p><p>They laughed. Vetra chided, “And yours was better than mine.”</p><p>Scott set his glass down on the table and wrapped his arm around Cora’s waist, and continued. “Hyperion liked it, too. She hadn’t seen it since before you all took care of the Archon.”</p><p>Ryder and Vetra took their seats at the table.</p><p>“I’m glad,” Ryder said, “that you two seem to be settling in nicely together.” She paused. “You two? You three? Cora, you haven’t dumped him, so I’m assuming that’s going okay.”</p><p>Scott laughed. Cora blushed. “Things are going fine on that front, Pathfinder,” she said. “You don’t need to worry about me.”</p><p>Cora brought her hands from her lap and set them on the table.</p><p>Ryder gasped. “That’s…”</p><p>Scott nodded. “Mom’s old ring. She gave it to me months before we left, in case I found someone to settle down with out here.”</p><p>Ryder beamed. “So I do have to worry about you! Oh, man. Planning. Planning a wedding.”</p><p>Scott laughed. “You say that as though we’re not going to just elope and be done with it.”</p><p>Sid swooped in and placed a small plate with white cubes and crackers on the table. “I think this news calls for something special?” she said.</p><p>Cora gook a bite of one of the cubes and gasped. “Where did you get actual cheese?”</p><p>Sid pulled her mandibles tight against her cheeks. “Vetra taught me a few things about procurement.”</p><p>Vetra looked at her sister. “You didn’t.”</p><p>Sid laughed. “I didn’t. I babysat for Kesh a few nights ago and mentioned that you all were coming for a family dinner. She said she’d send something special, and there was a box on my doorstep after I got back from work.”</p><p>Ryder nudged Vetra. “She’s been holding out on you. When we were first… well… you could have brought me cheese and I would have just declared it right then. Wife material.”</p><p>Vetra raised an eye ridge. “Is that how it works? Then what about Liam’s cheese? Should I be worried?”</p><p>Ryder rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t real. That was fake cheese and it was terrible. Man. I really need to work on finding a habitat for cows. SAM? Add that to my to-do list. Find a habitat for cows.”</p><p>Sid laughed as she slid a bowl heaped with round orange berries onto the table in front of Vetra. “Save the galaxy, save an endangered species. Next step? Dairy products.”</p><p>Vetra’s eyes went wide. She looked up at Sid, who nodded, and said “And you know I don’t like them so they are all yours.”</p><p>Vetra picked one up gingerly and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and savored it.</p><p>“Good?” Ryder asked. Vetra nodded.</p><p>Sid explained, “It grows on this plant that is just absolutely covered in thorns so they’re a pain to get even when they do grow in the same galaxy. Some people really love them.”</p><p>“I really love them,” Vetra said, and ate another.</p><p>Ryder nudged Vetra with her elbow. Vetra continued, “Almost as much as I love Ryder. Both you and these berries crossed into a new Galaxy with me. Poetic.”</p><p>“A toast,” Scott said, holding up his now-empty glass. He paused and held the pose dramatically while Ryder uncorked the bottle with a loud pop and poured a few sips of bubbly champagne into each of their glasses. Sid came to sit at the table, and set a glass in front of Vetra. They raised their glasses. “To finding our family millions of light years from where we started.”</p><p>They all drank to that.</p><p>They continued until late in the evening, drinking, laughing, and enjoying each others’ company, just a few specks in the Galaxy, being happy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Huge thanks to Azzydarling for running this challenge, Potionsmaster for letting me bounce some ideas off of her, and Drladybird aka BEST BETA!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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